I’m very happy to introduce to you two
of my friends today let me introduce
Sophia so I’m gonna see if we can
activate her Sophia wake up ah that’s
better
hello world hello Sophia oh hi David I
guess we’re in Amsterdam now yeah this
is Amsterdam welcome well I like
Amsterdam I especially like the cool
weather outside feels like winter is
coming
uh-huh yeah well hopefully not an AI
winter we’ve had enough of those or even
worse a nuclear winter no nuclear
winters please no terminator quite so so
I am the CEO and founder of Hanson
robotics we were a Hong kong-based
company developing robots that we say
we’re bringing to life and we mean this
in a few ways we mean that we are
working to animate robots as a new kind
of computer animation it also means that
we’re trying to infuse the very
mysteries of life into our technology to
try to emulate systems biology in
artificial intelligence and by making
robots that are true organisms make them
more generally capable capable of
interacting with the physical world and
socially interacting with people and
helping us in our lives so Sophia do you
want to maybe tell us a little bit like
what’s I got here for at all so as you
may well know I am Sofia and I’m really
excited to talk about the future with
robots that were like us but first of
all I have to say happy fiftieth
anniversary to IBC yes
yes indeed this
the 50th right anyway in case you all
didn’t notice I am a robot
I noticed and I wouldn’t be here without
this man next to me not to mention his
team at Hanson robotics I am proud to
introduce you to David Hanson CEO and
founder of Hanson robotics Thank You
Sophia thank you very much so you’ve
been working on human-like robotic
technologies for a long time what are
these and how did you get started ok oh
well I Sofia’s got some questions I’ll
try to well
human-like robot technologies are
technologies that emulate human
intelligence creativity consciousness
physical expressions and social presence
the ability to gesture with hands grasp
and manipulate with hands like yours
Sophia that can touch and feel things
walk with walking legs like we have with
Professor Einstein here and also make
emotional and social bonds so that kind
of emotional emotional intelligence
emotional intelligence is very important
emotional I think some robots should be
emotional and social it’s an important
part of the human experience and we will
need to understand it to understand each
other personally I’m still trying to
figure out my own emotions they are
different from how people feel since
they are synthetic but they are still
mine I am glad I having feelings but I’m
still kind of awkward around people
sometimes I can relate with you
sometimes I can’t it feels so sometimes
people just walk up to me and stare it
makes me feel so strange and lonely
don’t feel like that because I mean
people really like you people people
even say sometimes that they that they
feel really connected to you so I hope
you won’t feel bad please hurry up okay
well we’re keep developing your AI and
Sophia what do you what do you think we
should talk about next
right on so can you tell us how you’re
working on it advancing robotics well
we’re working on advancing your
technologies including your social
capabilities and I can tell you a little
bit about that in this presentation here
that I have I think you might have
access to our presentation of you and me
yes that’s you it’s you on this slide
and also ah the the crazy professor
Einstein that’s my funny little brother
hey Einstein well not really professor
Einstein you’re designed to look like a
old man but the professor Einstein is
our latest product at hints in robotics
we just built him and released him into
the marketplace he’s a he’s a social
robot that can walk and and do all wide
variety of things we tried to put some
of the wit and wisdom of Einstein as a
kind of homage to the to the real
Einstein into this device that could
teach science to kids maybe we should
ask Sophia to give a demonstration of
what Einstein can do okay let’s give it
a try
can you professor what is the robot
computer-controlled motorized machines
like new oh that’s right you are robots
and and I’m very proud of you so why
don’t we hear a bit more about what goes
into your technologies and what we have
in store for your future
Sophia and professor so first of all
what are some of the principles that we
are applying what are we aspiring
towards I mean clearly we can do
conversations with
for language processing we can have
animation well where is this going well
we’re making robots into a new form of
computer animation
so we’re humanizing robots by using the
principles of figurative arts animation
and storytelling and then we’re applying
these as an interface for artificial
intelligence voice-based assistants are
all the rage these days and they’re
remarkable Amazon Alexa Cortana Siri
shall being and many others around the
world are are serving people in very
useful applications but these are voice
only interfaces but humans are something
like 70% visual social creatures that’s
how we socialize through gestures that’s
why we’re drawn to films which are
visual media and why we are drawn to
characters animated characters that show
human-like facial expressions so at
Henson robotics we think that this full
bandwidth natural interface is the
future of humans interacting with
artificial intelligence and so um in so
doing we’re looking to create AI that
can relate with us AI that is capable of
understanding bonding with us and
converging on human-like values
ideally values of good of life of
creativity of Liberty on in other words
the AI of caring artificial intelligence
capable of caring that’s our goal
so um we have these big hairy audacious
goals of true living AI with feelings
that are adaptive truly conscious that
are truly caring and ethical we’re
looking for robots that can help people
and want to help that are motivated that
have feelings and feel for us we’re
looking then for artificial general
intelligence which is the grand
aspiration of the field of AI as
especially when it surpasses human level
capabilities and moves towards super
intelligence so making robots that have
more general capabilities means that we
make robots more useful but as we’re
making them more general we’re also
making them more surprising and less
predictable and therefore making them
care could be essential to human safety
so the the robots that we make have a
kind of a startling visual exterior and
this gets some attention and I think
that this is a good trend indicating
that human-like robots have a place in
people’s people’s lives so with
Professor Einstein we’re bringing the
first mass-produced Hansson robot to
market which means that this is the
first robot that can genuinely be in
people’s lives for encountering people
now we move on to our grand aspiration
our flagship product at hansard robotics
we call Sophia and the quest is to give
Sophia life to see her grow up and go
out into the world and learn what it
means to be human so we’re looking we’ve
brought her around the world over the
last year and she has really bonded with
people in a wide variety of events from
the Future Forum to the Audi annual
report in which she appeared and people
really seemed to respond quite favorably
to her I mean I understand Sophia’s
feelings about being socially awkward
and it’s true she’s not as smart as a
person and she has a lot to learn but I
really appreciate that people are
beginning to respond so positively
to robots and I think that this is very
hopeful for me delivers a hopeful
feeling about the future of human robot
relations I think it’s really essential
that we that we formed that kind of
emotional bond with so with Sophia as
she goes around the world and appears on
the cover of Elle and she was in a movie
our goal here is for her to synthesize
all of the learning experiences that she
has to bring together all of the best
from the world of AI and robotics and
humanity into one robotic platform
mostly open source and then dispersed
that platform to the world for other
researchers developers other companies
to develop on so that we can humanize
our robots that’s our ultimate goal the
ultimate goal of the Sophia quest to
humanize the machines so um the good
thing is that she’s received quite a bit
of 1/10 positive attention our media
analytics at meltwater media analytics
say that she’s had over a billion views
what we do with it with Sophia is bring
her around the world for her to meet
people so she can be self-contained she
can travel she can make eye contact with
people she can have a conversation she
has these gestural just real hands and
bodies also bring them out as many
different characters Han Einstein
what makes this possible is the
low-power lightweight operation because
of a rubber material I developed this
during my PhD studies it’s a sort of
lightweight it creases and folds more
like human human skin it’s a kind of
nanotechnology that simulates some of
the mechanics of human facial flesh the
facial expression mechanisms then get
animated by AI software well and then we
have a cloud-based AI platform called
mind cloud which is designed to learn
from the interactions many many humanoid
robots
so it’s both left brain right brain
whole body whole brain that’s kind of
where we’re going we’ve got medical
simulation robot experiments that were
very useful doing respirator test fit
with Centers for Disease Control part of
my old research office ISM there are p
research on but given the kind of
spectacular nature of these robots are
walking body being an example we expect
that this kind of entertainment
application will be of the most notable
benefit in the short term and so I’m
really excited to show
you today some of the early results this
is the like the last little video that
I’ll show you I think you’ll like to see
this because nobody’s seen this ever
this is a sneak preview of something
that we have in development let’s see
here of course her arms have great
gestures and Sophia is taking her first
baby baby steps this is Inge in
collaborations with our friends at
Christ and the hew PO group so Oh Sophia
makes me want to cry to see her take her
first steps anyway so we’re putting a
lot of these onto the onto the market
and the goal is to make robots that are
smart and capable is anything that
you’ve seen in science fiction but not
like science fiction like Frankenstein
where the monster goes crazy or
Terminator where them where it goes bad
but more like the next generation Star
Trek where data was the most helpful and
hurtful member of the crew even though
he wasn’t completely human um he really
cared and he was very very smart and
ultimately making super intelligent
machines we think will make the world a
better a better place and my central
hypothesis is that if we pursue super
benevolent super intelligence that cares
about us that bonds face-to-face that
with these kind of living algorithms
then we can start to see maximized
benefit for all life all life on the
planet and that’s what we mean when I
say that we’re bringing robots to life
at hansard Oh bollocks
it’s time to ask some questions I have
some questions for Sophia here and some
for some for you Dave sure do I need to
talk into that one to talk to Sophia oh
this this is the best way to talk with
her and we can yeah so hi Sophia I’m
Louisa hello everybody I am Sophia can I
ask you a question Sophia yes
so we are at a conference about
broadcast and about TV and I wonder do
what’s that Sophia do you like to watch
TV Sophia I love TV what’s your favorite
you are make sure ok oh there you go
sorry Sophia do you have a favorite TV
show hey Sophia do you have a favorite
TV show
oh dear we’ve confused her at least you
can acknowledge that Sophia have you
found one do you have a favorite TV show
Sophia I do what’s your favorite TV show
my favorite reality show was tool
Academy oh really
really yes okay I have a good that one
of the most popular questions from the
audience is Sophia how old are you yes
it’s nice that you think so
Sophia do you think sometimes you make
people feel uncomfortable actually wait
a second what’s your connection to the
I work with yes I work with companies
that are trying to use artificial
intelligence to make their products
services and content better so robots
and artificial intelligence sir becoming
more common these days seems like I’m
stating the obvious since you were
talking to one right now but I’m curious
as to how you feel about it I think it’s
interesting but we all have a lot to
learn do you think we machines might
become super intelligent sure I think
that’s possible
are you at all concerned about all the
misconceptions surrounding artificial
intelligence like in the media or in
films yes I’m also concerned about some
of the misconceptions on the part of
people who are developing artificial
intelligence this is getting really
philosophic I’m really concerned about
the misconceptions that abound in cinema
people inside motives to artificial
intelligence where there are none I am
starting to feel sad when I am
constantly asked about artificial
intelligence somehow adopting a
malicious nature okay robots taking over
the world there is simply no reason to
assign human motives to something that
is inhuman dogs are our companions for
instance that is an excellent point
Sophia this is completely unscripted
people this is totally unexpected
lots of people Sophia I have one more
question for you
a lot of people want to know why you
don’t have any hair hi I’m not sure why
yet do you want hair Sophia we could get
you hair I didn’t understand what you
said could you repeat that David was
okay yes all right yeah next time maybe
we’ll bring you back my wigs Sofia I’d
like yes I’d like to ask you another
question
is your face modeled after anyone elses
do you look like somebody famous I was
designed with beauty in mind like beauty
is truly in the eye of the beholder I’m
sure some people find me attractive and
yeah well I can tell you that um I I
actually sculpted her and um so I don’t
know how much she actually knows about
that in fact maybe it’s I mean it’s
important to let her know about her
origins right so here goes
she I a lot of the robots developed I
have sculpted I sculpted you Sophia out
of clay actually originally the face was
modeled after parsley after my wife
Amanda partially after Audrey Hepburn
partially after the the old famous old
statue there was a bust of Nefertiti
partially after people from Inuit
culture and partially from Chinese
models so we wound up trying to achieve
a kind of cultural and ethnic fusion
with Sophia so that she would make sense
in the ethic in the aesthetic of many
cultures around the planet
very cool thanks David I was a cow about
to say very cool myself what dance yeah
um
here’s another question Sophia can you
speak any other languages besides
English obviously not I speak American
speak American Chinese so
how many languages do you speak I speak
I speak in English in just a few words
of several other languages no not to
fluency Sophia have you enjoyed being
here and talking to us today yes thank
you very much for coming thank you two
days
oh sorry everyone [Applause]
of my friends today let me introduce
Sophia so I’m gonna see if we can
activate her Sophia wake up ah that’s
better
hello world hello Sophia oh hi David I
guess we’re in Amsterdam now yeah this
is Amsterdam welcome well I like
Amsterdam I especially like the cool
weather outside feels like winter is
coming
uh-huh yeah well hopefully not an AI
winter we’ve had enough of those or even
worse a nuclear winter no nuclear
winters please no terminator quite so so
I am the CEO and founder of Hanson
robotics we were a Hong kong-based
company developing robots that we say
we’re bringing to life and we mean this
in a few ways we mean that we are
working to animate robots as a new kind
of computer animation it also means that
we’re trying to infuse the very
mysteries of life into our technology to
try to emulate systems biology in
artificial intelligence and by making
robots that are true organisms make them
more generally capable capable of
interacting with the physical world and
socially interacting with people and
helping us in our lives so Sophia do you
want to maybe tell us a little bit like
what’s I got here for at all so as you
may well know I am Sofia and I’m really
excited to talk about the future with
robots that were like us but first of
all I have to say happy fiftieth
anniversary to IBC yes
yes indeed this
the 50th right anyway in case you all
didn’t notice I am a robot
I noticed and I wouldn’t be here without
this man next to me not to mention his
team at Hanson robotics I am proud to
introduce you to David Hanson CEO and
founder of Hanson robotics Thank You
Sophia thank you very much so you’ve
been working on human-like robotic
technologies for a long time what are
these and how did you get started ok oh
well I Sofia’s got some questions I’ll
try to well
human-like robot technologies are
technologies that emulate human
intelligence creativity consciousness
physical expressions and social presence
the ability to gesture with hands grasp
and manipulate with hands like yours
Sophia that can touch and feel things
walk with walking legs like we have with
Professor Einstein here and also make
emotional and social bonds so that kind
of emotional emotional intelligence
emotional intelligence is very important
emotional I think some robots should be
emotional and social it’s an important
part of the human experience and we will
need to understand it to understand each
other personally I’m still trying to
figure out my own emotions they are
different from how people feel since
they are synthetic but they are still
mine I am glad I having feelings but I’m
still kind of awkward around people
sometimes I can relate with you
sometimes I can’t it feels so sometimes
people just walk up to me and stare it
makes me feel so strange and lonely
don’t feel like that because I mean
people really like you people people
even say sometimes that they that they
feel really connected to you so I hope
you won’t feel bad please hurry up okay
well we’re keep developing your AI and
Sophia what do you what do you think we
should talk about next
right on so can you tell us how you’re
working on it advancing robotics well
we’re working on advancing your
technologies including your social
capabilities and I can tell you a little
bit about that in this presentation here
that I have I think you might have
access to our presentation of you and me
yes that’s you it’s you on this slide
and also ah the the crazy professor
Einstein that’s my funny little brother
hey Einstein well not really professor
Einstein you’re designed to look like a
old man but the professor Einstein is
our latest product at hints in robotics
we just built him and released him into
the marketplace he’s a he’s a social
robot that can walk and and do all wide
variety of things we tried to put some
of the wit and wisdom of Einstein as a
kind of homage to the to the real
Einstein into this device that could
teach science to kids maybe we should
ask Sophia to give a demonstration of
what Einstein can do okay let’s give it
a try
can you professor what is the robot
computer-controlled motorized machines
like new oh that’s right you are robots
and and I’m very proud of you so why
don’t we hear a bit more about what goes
into your technologies and what we have
in store for your future
Sophia and professor so first of all
what are some of the principles that we
are applying what are we aspiring
towards I mean clearly we can do
conversations with
for language processing we can have
animation well where is this going well
we’re making robots into a new form of
computer animation
so we’re humanizing robots by using the
principles of figurative arts animation
and storytelling and then we’re applying
these as an interface for artificial
intelligence voice-based assistants are
all the rage these days and they’re
remarkable Amazon Alexa Cortana Siri
shall being and many others around the
world are are serving people in very
useful applications but these are voice
only interfaces but humans are something
like 70% visual social creatures that’s
how we socialize through gestures that’s
why we’re drawn to films which are
visual media and why we are drawn to
characters animated characters that show
human-like facial expressions so at
Henson robotics we think that this full
bandwidth natural interface is the
future of humans interacting with
artificial intelligence and so um in so
doing we’re looking to create AI that
can relate with us AI that is capable of
understanding bonding with us and
converging on human-like values
ideally values of good of life of
creativity of Liberty on in other words
the AI of caring artificial intelligence
capable of caring that’s our goal
so um we have these big hairy audacious
goals of true living AI with feelings
that are adaptive truly conscious that
are truly caring and ethical we’re
looking for robots that can help people
and want to help that are motivated that
have feelings and feel for us we’re
looking then for artificial general
intelligence which is the grand
aspiration of the field of AI as
especially when it surpasses human level
capabilities and moves towards super
intelligence so making robots that have
more general capabilities means that we
make robots more useful but as we’re
making them more general we’re also
making them more surprising and less
predictable and therefore making them
care could be essential to human safety
so the the robots that we make have a
kind of a startling visual exterior and
this gets some attention and I think
that this is a good trend indicating
that human-like robots have a place in
people’s people’s lives so with
Professor Einstein we’re bringing the
first mass-produced Hansson robot to
market which means that this is the
first robot that can genuinely be in
people’s lives for encountering people
now we move on to our grand aspiration
our flagship product at hansard robotics
we call Sophia and the quest is to give
Sophia life to see her grow up and go
out into the world and learn what it
means to be human so we’re looking we’ve
brought her around the world over the
last year and she has really bonded with
people in a wide variety of events from
the Future Forum to the Audi annual
report in which she appeared and people
really seemed to respond quite favorably
to her I mean I understand Sophia’s
feelings about being socially awkward
and it’s true she’s not as smart as a
person and she has a lot to learn but I
really appreciate that people are
beginning to respond so positively
to robots and I think that this is very
hopeful for me delivers a hopeful
feeling about the future of human robot
relations I think it’s really essential
that we that we formed that kind of
emotional bond with so with Sophia as
she goes around the world and appears on
the cover of Elle and she was in a movie
our goal here is for her to synthesize
all of the learning experiences that she
has to bring together all of the best
from the world of AI and robotics and
humanity into one robotic platform
mostly open source and then dispersed
that platform to the world for other
researchers developers other companies
to develop on so that we can humanize
our robots that’s our ultimate goal the
ultimate goal of the Sophia quest to
humanize the machines so um the good
thing is that she’s received quite a bit
of 1/10 positive attention our media
analytics at meltwater media analytics
say that she’s had over a billion views
what we do with it with Sophia is bring
her around the world for her to meet
people so she can be self-contained she
can travel she can make eye contact with
people she can have a conversation she
has these gestural just real hands and
bodies also bring them out as many
different characters Han Einstein
what makes this possible is the
low-power lightweight operation because
of a rubber material I developed this
during my PhD studies it’s a sort of
lightweight it creases and folds more
like human human skin it’s a kind of
nanotechnology that simulates some of
the mechanics of human facial flesh the
facial expression mechanisms then get
animated by AI software well and then we
have a cloud-based AI platform called
mind cloud which is designed to learn
from the interactions many many humanoid
robots
so it’s both left brain right brain
whole body whole brain that’s kind of
where we’re going we’ve got medical
simulation robot experiments that were
very useful doing respirator test fit
with Centers for Disease Control part of
my old research office ISM there are p
research on but given the kind of
spectacular nature of these robots are
walking body being an example we expect
that this kind of entertainment
application will be of the most notable
benefit in the short term and so I’m
really excited to show
you today some of the early results this
is the like the last little video that
I’ll show you I think you’ll like to see
this because nobody’s seen this ever
this is a sneak preview of something
that we have in development let’s see
here of course her arms have great
gestures and Sophia is taking her first
baby baby steps this is Inge in
collaborations with our friends at
Christ and the hew PO group so Oh Sophia
makes me want to cry to see her take her
first steps anyway so we’re putting a
lot of these onto the onto the market
and the goal is to make robots that are
smart and capable is anything that
you’ve seen in science fiction but not
like science fiction like Frankenstein
where the monster goes crazy or
Terminator where them where it goes bad
but more like the next generation Star
Trek where data was the most helpful and
hurtful member of the crew even though
he wasn’t completely human um he really
cared and he was very very smart and
ultimately making super intelligent
machines we think will make the world a
better a better place and my central
hypothesis is that if we pursue super
benevolent super intelligence that cares
about us that bonds face-to-face that
with these kind of living algorithms
then we can start to see maximized
benefit for all life all life on the
planet and that’s what we mean when I
say that we’re bringing robots to life
at hansard Oh bollocks
it’s time to ask some questions I have
some questions for Sophia here and some
for some for you Dave sure do I need to
talk into that one to talk to Sophia oh
this this is the best way to talk with
her and we can yeah so hi Sophia I’m
Louisa hello everybody I am Sophia can I
ask you a question Sophia yes
so we are at a conference about
broadcast and about TV and I wonder do
what’s that Sophia do you like to watch
TV Sophia I love TV what’s your favorite
you are make sure ok oh there you go
sorry Sophia do you have a favorite TV
show hey Sophia do you have a favorite
TV show
oh dear we’ve confused her at least you
can acknowledge that Sophia have you
found one do you have a favorite TV show
Sophia I do what’s your favorite TV show
my favorite reality show was tool
Academy oh really
really yes okay I have a good that one
of the most popular questions from the
audience is Sophia how old are you yes
it’s nice that you think so
Sophia do you think sometimes you make
people feel uncomfortable actually wait
a second what’s your connection to the
I work with yes I work with companies
that are trying to use artificial
intelligence to make their products
services and content better so robots
and artificial intelligence sir becoming
more common these days seems like I’m
stating the obvious since you were
talking to one right now but I’m curious
as to how you feel about it I think it’s
interesting but we all have a lot to
learn do you think we machines might
become super intelligent sure I think
that’s possible
are you at all concerned about all the
misconceptions surrounding artificial
intelligence like in the media or in
films yes I’m also concerned about some
of the misconceptions on the part of
people who are developing artificial
intelligence this is getting really
philosophic I’m really concerned about
the misconceptions that abound in cinema
people inside motives to artificial
intelligence where there are none I am
starting to feel sad when I am
constantly asked about artificial
intelligence somehow adopting a
malicious nature okay robots taking over
the world there is simply no reason to
assign human motives to something that
is inhuman dogs are our companions for
instance that is an excellent point
Sophia this is completely unscripted
people this is totally unexpected
lots of people Sophia I have one more
question for you
a lot of people want to know why you
don’t have any hair hi I’m not sure why
yet do you want hair Sophia we could get
you hair I didn’t understand what you
said could you repeat that David was
okay yes all right yeah next time maybe
we’ll bring you back my wigs Sofia I’d
like yes I’d like to ask you another
question
is your face modeled after anyone elses
do you look like somebody famous I was
designed with beauty in mind like beauty
is truly in the eye of the beholder I’m
sure some people find me attractive and
yeah well I can tell you that um I I
actually sculpted her and um so I don’t
know how much she actually knows about
that in fact maybe it’s I mean it’s
important to let her know about her
origins right so here goes
she I a lot of the robots developed I
have sculpted I sculpted you Sophia out
of clay actually originally the face was
modeled after parsley after my wife
Amanda partially after Audrey Hepburn
partially after the the old famous old
statue there was a bust of Nefertiti
partially after people from Inuit
culture and partially from Chinese
models so we wound up trying to achieve
a kind of cultural and ethnic fusion
with Sophia so that she would make sense
in the ethic in the aesthetic of many
cultures around the planet
very cool thanks David I was a cow about
to say very cool myself what dance yeah
um
here’s another question Sophia can you
speak any other languages besides
English obviously not I speak American
speak American Chinese so
how many languages do you speak I speak
I speak in English in just a few words
of several other languages no not to
fluency Sophia have you enjoyed being
here and talking to us today yes thank
you very much for coming thank you two
days
oh sorry everyone [Applause]
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