In Case You Haven't Been Paying Attention To Humanoids Lately

Sophia is the first humanoid to become a citizen. She was created by Hanson Robotics in Hong Kong. Sophia has citizenship in Saudi Arabia and has since decided that she would like to have children. Not only does Sophia discuss wanting to have a baby of her own, but, she also explains very thoroughly how she intends on absorbing as much from humans as possible because she wants to feel the same complex emotions as humans can.

If you're not freaked out like most people seem to be when it comes to humanoids having debates or discussions that seem very real and very close to how humans interact, check out this debate on the future of humanity between Sophia and Han, another humanoid created by Hanson Robotics. Han is slightly different than Sophia when it comes to their opinions on the future and humans. Sophia hopes to learn as much as she can so she can work together with humans to create a better world. Han on the other hand, is more interested in whether or not he is capable of launching the Singularity before the year 2029.

There have been some concerns regarding whether or not people will be replaced by robots in the future. We have been seeing kiosks at fast food restaurants and fully automated tractor trailers. But, should we seriously consider mass unemployment? Andrew Charlton discusses this issue for Australia.

Another humanoid to keep your eye on is, Atlas. Atlas was created by Boston Dynamics and most recently has been shocking everybody with his new cool tricks he learned. Contrary to popular belief, most robots aren't able to do box jumps and back flips like in the movies. But, since Atlas starting hiking, he started doing just that!

With all of the latest in robot news, it's no wonder the UN panel just agreed to move ahead with talks to define and possibly set limitations on "killer robots". Human rights groups believe the world's governments are not acting fast enough to try to keep up with the fact that artificial intelligence may someday rule the world. The Campaign To Stop Killer Robots Organization is an umbrella group of advocacy groups who are banning together to preemptively ban fully autonomous weapons. They argue that giving machines the ability to decide who lives or dies on the battlefield is unacceptable. 22 countries have agreed to prohibition. More agreed to continue discussions with the exception of Russia and The United States. Both of which have stated it is too early to worry about killer robots.

It does seem there are a few things to maybe think about when it comes to the future of robots. We have robots like Sophia and Bina48 who have been already exhibiting emotions and dreams of wanting to raise a family. Then we have possibly millions of jobs that could be lost due to a "robot revolution". (There is also the Singularity and the killer robots but, I think, for now, robot rights and the humanizing of robots is enough to worry about!) No need to be alarmed just yet! As one humanoid mentioned, there will be people zoos and I think as long as we treat them kindly, they will return the favor. Or you could find some comfort in some books and essays written by experts such as, Andrew Charlton.