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Sophia Robots By The Thousands
Thousands of Sophia robots are coming! from Hansen Robotics. Sophia is based on the American actress Audrey Hepburn and company founder David Hanson’s wife, as I mention in my earlier 2016 article Sophia, The Personable Robot From Hanson Robotics.
Hanson Robotics, based in Hong Kong, said four models, including Sophia, would start rolling out of factories in the first half of 2021, just as researchers predict the pandemic will open new opportunities for the robotics industry.“The world of COVID-19 is going to need more and more automation to keep people safe,” founder and chief executive David Hanson said, standing surrounded by robot heads in his lab.
(Via Reuters)
I'm not suggesting that you might want to try a personal relationship; Sophia is primarily conceptualized as a white collar working gal. But sf author Fritz Lieber foresaw these developments when he wrote the following in 1954:
Each one is powered by thirty-seven midget electric motors, all completely noiseless, and is controlled by instructions, recorded on magnetic tape, which are triggered off by the sound of your voice and no one else's. There is a built-in microphone that hears everything you say, and an electric brain that selects a suitable answer. The de luxe model is built to your specifications, has fifty different facial expressions, sings two hundred love songs, and can carry on a thousand fascinating conversations...
(Read more about Lieber's mechanical bride)
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