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A robot assures me that frontier tech will only help humans, but can we trust her?
Sophia the robot makes her debut in Indonesia, delighting and entertaining the audience at the CSIS Global Dialogue. But will she become much more than what she purports to be?
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Information and Communications Minister Rudiantara (right) and the head of the Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) Triawan Munaf laugh when hearing responses from Sophia, the robot at the 2019 CSIS Global Dialogue on Sept. 17 in Hotel Borobudur Jakarta, Central Jakarta. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
A
n awkward silence swept the conference room as stage-hands pushed into place what appeared to be a cable-strung mannequin draped in a bright pink Indonesian lace kebaya.
“Hello everyone. I am arriving slowly,” quipped Sophia, the humanoid robot, attracting a few muted giggles and wide-eyed fascination from the crowd.
Designed by Hanson Robotics to look like famed British actress Audrey Hepburn and named after the greek word for wisdom, Sophia’s debut on Monday at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies’ (CSIS) Global Dialogue in Jakarta served as a trigger for an increasingly important discussion about keeping up with and harnessing rapidly advancing technologies.
“The reason why we have invited her to open our global dialogue is to provide you with a glimpse of what the frontiers of technology look like or could feel like,” said Marie Elka Pangestu, former trade minister and cochair of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC), a coconvenor of the two-day event.
Skirting the edges between believability and the uncanny valley, Sophia answered a flurry of questions by researchers, company executives and even some members of the general audience, in a manner that played up her eloquence, intelligence and wit - convincingly too, if people could see beyond the five-second lag in her responses.
To a question by Prasetiya Mulya University rector Djisman Simandjuntak on what kind of relationship she has with her creators at Hong Kong-based Hanson Robotics, Sophia said: “David Hanson is like my dad, and the rest of the development team is like one big family for me. In some ways they are like my employer too, but I am still waiting on my first paycheck.”
In another interaction, Sophia seemed turned off - as it were - by a request to become more closely acquainted with an eager fan in the audience. “No, no touching,” she insisted.
