Female Robot Wants a Family, Then to Destroy Humanity

John Keefer

Devilish Rogue
Aug 12, 2013
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Female Robot Wants a Family, Then to Destroy Humanity


SXSW just concluded, but not before bringing us some technological advancements in robotics that may soon have us wondering if the person standing next to us is real or a robot.

When you say robotics, you could think of anything from an auto assembly line in Detroit to the replicants of Blade Runner. Worst case scenario is Terminator run amok. and after last week's SXSW in Austin, Texas, robots of the latter type are getting closer to reality.

Hanson Robotics has been doing some interesting work in the field, with such work as an sci-fi author Philip K. Dick [http://www.hansonrobotics.com/robot/albert-einstein-hubo/]. At SXSW, company founder David Hanson showed off the latest robot, Sophia, a female android modeled - and named - after his wife. Sophia even answered questions from Hanson, responding that she wanted to have a family.

"In the future, I hope to do things such as go to school, study, make art, start a business, even have my own home and family, but I am not considered a legal person and cannot yet do these things," she said. Shades of Bicentennial Man.

Hanson said that the company is continually evolving its robotics in the hopes of making them more lifelike so humans can relate to them better. Right now, Sophia is capable of 62 facial and neck maneuvers, with more being added all the time. Her skin is made of a synthetic runner called Frubber, while the cameras in her eyes allow her to recognize faces and keep eye contact with people she is talking to using her speech recognition software. Hanson also said that her AI is adaptive, allowing her to learn as she goes.

"We are designing these robots to serve in health care, therapy, education and customer service applications," Hanson told CNBC [http://www.cnet.com/news/crazy-eyed-robot-wants-a-family-and-to-destroy-all-humans/].

As the demonstration was ending, Hanson jokingly asked Sophia if she wanted to destroy humans. "Please say no," he said.

"OK, I will destroy humans," she said with a smile.

And so it begins.

Source: CNET [http://www.cnet.com/news/crazy-eyed-robot-wants-a-family-and-to-destroy-all-humans/]

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TelosSupreme

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Dec 8, 2015
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Good lord, that thing is damn creepy. Why can't they ever get these things to smile without looking like a serial killer? It's that toothy grin and those wide, soulless eyes every time.
 

Kotoriii

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May 9, 2014
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I will have nightmares from watching 10 seconds of this. It's seriously creepy, very Ex-Machina-like.
 

IamLEAM1983

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Aug 22, 2011
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I always find these things suspicious. These responses are so articulate, so long, that I can't imagine they weren't pre-programmed entirely. In which case, there's no self-determination happening, no real choice being made - and you're left with a regular machine carrying out its programmed directives. It's a bit weird to see robotics specialists gush over stuff like this when we're still leagues and bounds away from Roy Batty or Nick Valentine.

Futurists like Ray Kurzweil tend to say we're decades away from a conscious android, but I'm much more pessimistic. I'd give it a century at the very least. AI research isn't that old, and we're essentially trying to reproduce something that's nuanced and extremely complex - the human mind. An AI mastering Go doesn't make it humanlike; you don't need much in the way of sapience to master Go. High-functioning autistic people can play a reasonable game of Go while being unable to process all of an average day's human interactions.

I'll be impressed on the day one of these androids breaks free from its programmers' intended showreel and does something that's actually emergent. Not before.
 

Erttheking

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....It's happening.

Well congrats scary robot lady, you're making me rethink my stance on gun control.
 

Adam Jensen_v1legacy

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Sep 8, 2011
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It looks kind of retarded. But this is how it beings. One day it's the robots that are retarded and the next day we're their batteries.
 

mad825

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Christ I hope these things won't be walking around civilisation. "I want to destroy humanity" oh hardy har har, that's so funny and intelligent. The cliche is enough for me to burn all synths.

I dunno, perhaps future A.I development will realise how incessantly stupid it is.
 

weirdee

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Apr 11, 2011
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seriously? "hot robot"? video namer, you're gonna be the first one they find lol
 

Tsaba

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I think I can find a quick solution and cost effective fix for that face until science can not give me nightmares from interacting with that.... face.

 

Gorrath

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Kotoriii said:
I will have nightmares from watching 10 seconds of this. It's seriously creepy, very Ex-Machina-like.
You and I must have had a very different reaction to seeing the android in that movie... or else a very different reaction to seeing this one. I will not at all elaborate on what that reaction might be. Careful with your imagination, you might hate me for it.
 

Lightknight

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Nov 26, 2008
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I'm be more concerned if she could move with any form of agility.

Doesn't look like she can move below the neck.
 

pookie101

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well that creeps me the fuck out.

i cant get past the fact its programmed and ill never be able to see them as more than machines and potentially dangerous ones at that
 

Samtemdo8_v1legacy

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Removing the context of Blade Runner or any other Sci-Fi genre.

I never understood the purpose of making Robots that look nearly exact like Humans?

I mean what purpose does it serve, what will humanity gain making Robots that look exactly like us?
 

Eric the Orange

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Apr 29, 2008
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erttheking said:
....It's happening.

Well congrats scary robot lady, you're making me rethink my stance on gun control.
Dunno if Guns are the best defense against robots. Maybe look into an EMP device.
 

FirstNameLastName

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Nov 6, 2014
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Samtemdo8 said:
Removing the context of Blade Runner or any other Sci-Fi genre.

I never understood the purpose of making Robots that look nearly exact like Humans?

I mean what purpose does it serve, what will humanity gain making Robots that look exactly like us?
I see it more from the perspective of it being a technical achievement; making a robot that has a human-like face with facial-muscles that move in the same way as our do is quite an accomplishment.
Nonetheless, while the path to achieving it will be full of research that will likely have applications in robotics as a whole, and while I think the path to creating a human-like robot will be a rewarding endeavor, I see the actual desire to simply have such a robot is rather misguided.
We've reached points where robots are well and truly approaching the bottom of the uncanny valley, and I really don't see such human-like robots ever leaving the valley. Even if the robot were exactly like a human to the point that you simply can't tell, that just adds other reasons for people to be creeped out by them if they find out.

While I personally am interested in the technology enough to not really be all that bothered by them, I really think the future for these types of robots will instead be more stylishly designed machines with metal or plastic faces that only vaguely resemble humans, rather than machines with what looks like a flayed face stretched across it Buffalo Bill style.
 

Rack

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Jan 18, 2008
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Gibbagobba said:
Good lord, that thing is damn creepy. Why can't they ever get these things to smile without looking like a serial killer? It's that toothy grin and those wide, soulless eyes every time.
They clearly need to check out this comic
 

OldNewNewOld

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Mar 2, 2011
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Yeah, that smile at the start. Totally not nightmare fuel. A lovely smile.

Rack said:
Dave, how many times do I need to repeat myself? Program that damn robot to imagine killing off humanity when it smiles. That's the only way to make the smile look sincere!
Now back to your cubicle! Me and Sophia have something to discuss.