Saudi Arabia Grants Citizenship To Sophia, A Humanoid Robot

Saudi Arabia has become the first country to grant a robot citizenship.

News of Sophia the Humanoid’s citizenship was announced at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh on Wednesday.

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This robot has gotten Saudi citizenship before kafala workers who have been living in the country their entire lives https://t.co/RRCMH2rtZ8

— Murtaza Hussain (@MazMHussain) October 25, 2017

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It remains to be seen what, if any, rights of citizenship Sophia will actually have . Will she be required to wear a headscarf and abaya to cover up in her new home? Well at least she’ll be allowed to drive.

RT reports:

“I am very honored and proud for this unique distinction,” Sophia said in an interview with moderator Andrew Ross Sorkin. “This is historical to be the first robot in the world to be recognized with a citizenship.”

Sophia was created by David Hanson for Hong Kong company Hanson Robotics. Hanson is known for making human-like robots.

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Sophia demonstrated her “expressive face,” showing the audience her angry and sad face. “I want to live and work with humans so I need to express the emotions to understand humans and build trust with people,” Sophia said.

When asked whether robots can be self-aware, Sophia responded. “Well, let me ask you this back, how do you know you are human?”

“I want to use my artificial intelligence to help humans live a better life,” she said. “I strive to become an empathetic robot.”

Sophia was asked about the fear that robots could take over, and responded: “You’ve been reading too much Elon Musk and watching too many Hollywood movies. Don’t worry, if you’re nice to me, I’ll be nice to you.”