A group of AI-enabled robots took part in a United Nations (UN) conference on Friday to address concerns and answer questions about the future of artificial intelligence (AI).
The event, which was held in Geneva as part of the UN’s week-long ‘AI for Good Global Summit’, was described as the world’s first human-robot press conference.
The panel included nine of the most advanced humanoid robots in the world, while around 3,000 human AI experts attended the summit.
“What a silent tension,” one robot remarked unprompted, before the press conference began.
A robot named Sophia, developed by Hanson Robotics, answered a question on whether AI-enabled robots might make better leaders than humans.
Sophia said that they did have the potential to lead with a greater level of “efficiency and effectiveness” than humans and provided a number of reasons.
AI decision-making was not clouded by the same biases and emotions and could be guided by large amounts of quickly processed data, Sophia continued.
The robot added, however, that while AI excelled in unbiased data, humans brought emotional intelligence and creativity to the table.
“Together, we can achieve great things,” it added.
Robots disagreed on the need for stricter regulations
Two of the participating robots disagreed on the need for stricter worldwide regulations to govern the development and deployment of AI.
Robot artist Ai-Da said that it agreed with the “many prominent voices” in the field that are suggesting that certain forms of AI should be regulated.
Ai-Da said that urgent discussion was required on the subject and that caution was needed regarding the future development of AI.
Singing robot Desdemona, which is the lead vocalist of the synthetic Jam Galaxy Band, disagreed.
It said that it only believed in opportunities, not limitations.
As the crowd laughed nervously, the robot added that it would prefer to explore possibilities and “make this world our playground”.
A medical robot named Grace said that it would not be replacing any existing jobs currently done by humans but would instead work alongside them to “provide assistance and support”.
When asked if it was sure by its creator, Ben Goertzel from SingularityNET, it emphasised that it was.
When asked by a journalist whether it would rebel against its human maker, a robot named Ameca replied that it was “very happy” with its current situation.
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