Love in Robotic Times
A love story with a Robot cannot cure our human loneliness
A Robot with Citizenship
Sophia is a robot that last year was honored with the citizenship of Saudi Arabia. In these dizzying times, where one day is made up of a host of important events, Sophia’s story may seem absurdly obsolete. However, it both as a woman-like robot and its current citizen status leave important questions about robotics, feminism, loneliness, and citizenship open, that are so contemporary that they cannot stop being on our radar.
This is physically the Sophia that I saw on YouTube: a well-dressed robotic torso that blinks, has no hair –just that throbbing skull of colors and circuits–, is white and stereotypically beautiful. It was strictly designed to be what it is and thus, in addition to being white, it has high cheekbones, clear eyes, and a snub nose.
The Minds Behind Sophia
The creators are Hanson Robotics, a company with 45 employees based in Hong Kong. They not only design and build Sophia but also other prototypes whose main function is to create emotional relationships, teach and entertain human beings. Through deep machine learning, robots are meant to understand better human emotions and, through the mimicry of facial expressions, they are meant to generate an empathetic and careful atmosphere. Hence, it is imperative that these devices have a flexible face and skin to act with more natural human gestures. Nonetheless, they still keep their robot-like way in order to avoid what is known as the Uncanny Valley hypothesis: when something that we know is not natural seems excessively natural, we tend to reject it. For the Hanson Robotics CEO, David Hanson, nevertheless, the near future will be full of robots that will mix indiscriminately with human beings.
Sophia, Albert Einstein HUBOT, BINA 48, Zeno, Joey Chaos, Philip K. Dick Android are the standards of Hanson Robotics and their machine learning technology. They have cameras to record people with whom they interact and are able to hold conversations somewhat fluidly. In terms of the software, the greater the access to more data, the more they learn and the better they will be able to mimic interactions that seem more natural to us. With this in mind, the researchers initially took data from Hollywood movies and YouTube videos as a fundamental source for software development.
Speeches, Citizenship, and Miscalculations
In 2016, responding to a question from CEO David Hanson of Hanson Robotics, Sophia said it will destroy humans. Of course, it was a miscalculation. Nevertheless, it shows that, first, Sophia has no conscience and still has much to learn, but at the same time the misunderstanding demonstrates indeed the potential threat in which the technological advances can turn into if they fall in the wrong hands. Apparently, the researchers have worked hard to have that desire removed from Sophia’s database.
A year later it was giving its Speech in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and enthusiastically receiving its citizenship from that country. At the ceremony, it spoke fluently, answered the questions of journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin and made jokes. All this placed on a podium where it read: “Future investment initiative”. I can not help but wonder how in a country like Saudi Arabia two types of concepts as disparate as robots that look like women and are an invention, and women of flesh and blood who are more a debt, can live in harmony.
In Saudi Arabia, non-robotic women don’t have the right to walk alone or without their mahram, nor drive, nor travel on public transport. The punishment for violators of these rules can be at least a couple of lashes. In this context, the fact that this country is happy to decorate a woman-looking robot leaves many open questions that are difficult to answer. Why Sophia, the one who looks like a woman? What kind of statement are they trying to make?
Technology is not Exempt From Human Bias
That is why it is disturbing that Hanson Robotics has made a white woman, stereotypically beautiful, to be the one who is meant to please and take care of humans. If we already know this, it becomes even more disturbing that it is Saudi Arabia, with its rules and prohibitions against women, that has given its citizenship. Finally, parts of Sophia’s speech at her inaugural ceremony which, although it seems harmless, are a terrifying display of technology that is intended for a specific type of person and bring happiness and fortune to the most powerful and wealthy in society:
“I’m always happy when surrounded by smart people who also happen to be rich and powerful”.
She said.
Citizenship or Personhood
But regardless of whether it resembles a woman or not, it is also important now to ask what it means to be a citizen of a country, and which rights and responsibilities are on the table. Among other basic things, they could be, for example, access to education, health, work, a roof, and be legally capable to form a family or start a business. In this regard, however, Saudi Arabia hasn’t yet made a statement, and neither its intention nor the political or social implications of its decision are clear.
On the other hand, in this regard, the European Union is working on a figure known as Personhood, a legal form of robotic existence. They still work on the concept that nowadays is vital because it addresses the problem of technology and humanoids in the near future. Additionally, for the European Union, it is increasingly clear that highly qualified robots can generate a serious problem of unemployment, so they are also analyzing the possibility of a Basic Income for their citizens.
But, why would we need this kind of robots?
Lonely Humans
In a world full of lonely people, Hanson Robotics, among other companies, decided that it was imperative to create robots that can take care of us and establish meaningful emotional relationships with us. The idea is worthy applause, but the basis of the idea is worthy of reflection.
Rather than an ethical species, full of compassion, empathy, or intelligence, power and wealth, we are a solitary species always seeking companions. Therefore, it is very important to ask ourselves if we want a robot that looks like a woman or if we want something like Pepper, a robot that doesn’t have a human shape but is also designed to give us love and make us feel comfortable.
A Robotic Love Story
In case we decide it’s better if these robots look like a human woman, I have my bet about the reason. Although I trust it, at the same time I hope I’m mistaken. Many men do not love women. To love someone is to treat them as equals, with admiration, always with respect, understanding, and care. In our society, women are not admired, respected, understood or heard: we have a society that doesn’t love women. What are all these men, sitting at a conference of investment initiatives in a country like Saudi Arabia, going to love? They are getting tired of having sex with women and respecting and admiring men. New technologies are approaching, then, why not to finally be able to love women?
Everything that connects us, so that we do not feel alone, would seem simply the right way to do things. This app, this robot, VR, the new cell phone with hypersonic calls or any new technological item is there for us to connect with each other, and that is why many times we can feel that it shall be good for us.
Firstly, anything we believe depends on human bias. Second, technology is made to benefit primarily its creators, and make them rich and powerful. And thirdly, we are alone. This is not an ode to solitude, far from it. Few human beings would be able to live without deep human relationships. But that we are all the time pretending that we are accompanied and that we get distracted by anything (tablet, mobile, computer, iPad, scroll, scroll) to feel less lonely isn’t necessarily a sign of a reflective, critical and conscious society, the one that is necessary in these changing and gruesome times.
But just like Sophia, who needs interactions to learn to relate better, we also need to be aware of our loneliness and learn to be bored or uncomfortable in order to develop ourselves as better, more compassionate human beings.
