Marilyn Thipthorpe

Robots are creepy, plain and simple. Engineers are always trying to tell you that these robots are going to make life easier and simple and oh soo good. But what happens when a robot goes gaga and says that she dreams of a family, going to school, studying art and wants to kill all humanity. This was definitely not a glitch or the AI goes into solo mode but an input of the engineer’s wishing to play a prank. Time and again, Hanson Robotics has brought in ground breaking robotics technology, but their new invention, Sophia really takes the cake. This ‘lady’ on display at SXSW in Austin, Texas is claimed to me the most life like robot yet. She has 62 facial and neck constructions and styles as well as patented silicon skin that comes with wrinkles and furors, smiles and frowns. She can recognize faces as she scans through her camera database and has her very own almost intuitive personality or as Hanson robotics prefers to call it, a “Character Engine AI”. The engineers believe that humans can bond better with a robot that has these distinctive features. David Hanson, the founder of Hanson robotics says that his aim is to bring the world life like robots with more than human intelligence. Sophia is designed after Audrey Hepburn and Hanson’s wife. Hanson further says that he believes that one day humans will be indistinguishable from robots