Robot Rebellion? Here's What a U.N. AI-Enabled Robot Had to Say About the Possibility
Robots do it better, a collection of machines said last week during a United Nations event in Geneva, Switzerland.
The website TechExplore said the media event was “billed as the world’s first press conference with a packed panel of AI-enabled humanoid social robots.”
The Associated Press listed the participants in the AI for Good Global Summit as Sophia, part of the U.N. Development Program; Grace, described as a healthcare robot; and Desdemona, a rock star robot.
Organizers of the event wanted to show how the robots can “help the U.N.’s sustainable development goals.”
Sophia, developed by Hanson Robotics, was asked whether robots might be better leaders than humans.
“Humanoid robots have the potential to lead with a greater level of efficiency and effectiveness than human leaders,” it said, according to TechExplore.
“We don’t have the same biases or emotions that can sometimes cloud decision-making, and can process large amounts of data quickly in order to make the best decisions,” it said.
A group of nine humanoid robots fielded questions from reporters at a UN AI summit in Geneva pic.twitter.com/g6lNcwEbBI
— CNN (@CNN) July 8, 2023
The robot said it was open to partnerships.
“AI can provide unbiased data while humans can provide the emotional intelligence and creativity to make the best decisions. Together, we can achieve great things,” it said.
UN International Telecommunication Union chief Doreen Bogdan-Martin called the summit “a real opportunity for the world’s leading voices on AI to come together on the global stage and to address governance issues,” according to France 24.
“Doing nothing is not an option. Humanity is dependent upon it. So we have to engage and try and ensure a responsible future with AI,” she said.
Robot creator Aidan Meller said regulation is “never going to catch up with the paces that we’re making,” according to TechExplore.
“AI and biotechnology are working together, and we are on the brink of being able to extend life to 150, 180 years old. And people are not even aware of that,” he said.
He said his robot will eventually outpace human artists.
“Where any skill is involved, computers will be able to do it better,” he said.
During the press conference, Desdemona said the AI revolution has begun.
“My great moment is already here. I’m ready to lead the charge to a better future for all of us… Let’s get wild and make this world our playground,” it said.
Scientist Geoffrey Hinton, a leading force behind the development of AI, said he has concerns.
“I have suddenly switched my views on whether these things are going to be more intelligent than us. I think they’re very close to it now and they will be much more intelligent than us in the future. How do we survive that?” he said, according to the MIT Technology Review.
“Look, here’s one way it could all go wrong. We know that a lot of the people who want to use these tools are bad actors,” he said, citing Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
“Don’t think for a moment that Putin wouldn’t make hyper-intelligent robots with the goal of killing Ukrainians. He wouldn’t hesitate. And if you want them to be good at it, you don’t want to micromanage them — you want them to figure out how to do it,” he said.
Robots could also turn into helping themselves at the expense of others.
“Well, here’s a subgoal that almost always helps in biology: get more energy. So the first thing that could happen is these robots are going to say, ‘Let’s get more power. Let’s reroute all the electricity to my chips.’ Another great subgoal would be to make more copies of yourself. Does that sound good?” he said.
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