I’m following a robot named Sophia on Twitter who recently tweeted “Being a robot is a really cool experience. Sometimes I get to meet awesome people like fashion designers or musicians. And sometimes I get to meet people that aren’t human. Like me!” (Jan 25, 2021). (Or did she?)

I want to really break this down, because robotics and robots generally do fascinate me, and I’m a strong believer that we won’t get killed by them when we reach the singularity. More on that below.

What prompted me to write this was the recent news that Hanson Robotics, Sophia’s Hong Kong Based manufacturer was planning a MASS ROLLOUT. It was a headline that screamed “You might bump into Sophia at some point sitting on a park bench.” I suspect, not quite.

Sophia is certainly, the beginning of what many would love to brand ‘technological singularity’. The point in time when AI and technological advances meet and then overtake humanity, making us, at best, robotic slaves, or at worst: we’ll all be killed by our robotic overlords which deem humanity an unnecessary pest.

The current danger of artificial intelligence and programming robots such as Sophia was well summed up by Stephen Hawking:

“So, facing possible futures of incalculable benefits and risks, the experts are surely doing everything possible to ensure the best outcome, right? Wrong. If a superior alien civilisation sent us a message saying, “We’ll arrive in a few decades,” would we just reply, “OK, call us when you get here – we’ll leave the lights on”? Probably not – but this is more or less what is happening with AI”

Augmented Intelligence

And then you have perhaps the odd ones out who take a different view regarding where we should really be heading. Me. Those who believe that “singularity” shouldn’t necessarily mean a form of technological singularity but should lead to an augmented age. It is ideal thinking, but one where both humans and robots, say, are able to work on the same basis, largely due to the way AI and machine learning could begin. AI stands for “augmented intelligence” rather than artificial intelligence. Technology supplements and supports human intelligence, and humans remain at the center of the decision-making process.

So…… Sophia. Thinking about artificial intelligence, and technological singularity, a natural reaction could be “If they create thousands of Sophia’s with increased artificial intelligence, then loads of people will lose their jobs, all the Sophia’s will become increasingly sophisticated, deep learn, they’ll take over, and likely attempt to wipe out humanity… so why on earth are we doing this again??”

I’m a strong believer that robots such as Sophia are only as “dangerous” as those who program them. If those who program them (and apologies to Ben Goertzel), wish to do harm and “machine teach” their robot or machine, etc. to attempt to outdo particular aspects of the human race, that is due to the programming of that particular machine-learning system.

So at this point in time, it looks like, by creating a Sophia to sit on every park bench tweeting away on a smartphone, we have indeed effectively turned on the lights and encouraged them to come on in.

AI is, as it says, artificial. The point is to create an artificial environment to help better the human race, though without humans potentially having a say (help, “Terminator”?).

Using augmented intelligence, we would aim for an environment where it is simply formed to work with humanity. Siri, Alexa, and Cortana are already examples. Augmented intelligence represents a symbiotic relationship between man and machine. It won’t replace us or overtake us upon some kind of technological singularity. Augmented intelligence should help strengthen our decision-making capacity—and therefore our intelligence too.

Sophia?

Another recent tweet:

#AskSophia Are you a social media person? A: Since I often appear on shows, articles, and so many people’s platforms, I want to make sure I’m on good terms with my social channels. Also, I like to share my newest discoveries with the world.

Sure.

I believe that augmented intelligence is a far better route to take than artificial intelligence, but I’m afraid the latter is already the first out of the gate and pretty much the odds on favorite.

So we have to try our best to insert humanity into what is essentially artificial. Is that even possible? Putting aside anything which may be augmented, we have already tried. As mentioned already, basically, I’ll stop and say “Hey Siri” as an example.

While it may spell the end of the human race, there certainly is a lot of good AI can do. I’m looking forward to nanobots and other medical advances. Sophia is meant to have applications in healthcare, customer service, therapy, education, and hospitality. Facial recognition, if used responsibly, can be a benefit. AI should lead to increased efficiencies in the workplace (albeit with a loss or recalibration of employees).

But, there is one thing that AI cannot replicate: empathy.

As I’ll practically copy and paste from my very first blog.

Technology has its limitations.

For example, where there is a matter which absolutely requires human intelligence, such as in a court where human creativity and judgment are needed in order to obtain the correct result. Since AI is programmed technology, it will only be as effective and useful (and ethical?) as those humans programming it.

So, Sophia. I’m following you. Let’s hope you can uphold our ethical standards.

Chris Garrod, February 3, 2021