DIA 2019 Munich | Robot Sophia Interview

[Music] it's no secret we believe the future of the insurance industry is fueled by the latest advanced technologies how interesting would it be to show and discuss the future of AI with the most advanced human-like robot that's why we invited Hanson robotics Sofia runs first robot citizen and the first robot innovation ambassador for the United Nations Development Program today Sofia will be joined by David Chen the CFO of Hong kong-based Hanson robotics please welcome David chan and Sofia [Music] thank you for joining us here on stage Sofia and David Sofia are you excited to be in Munich thanks for having me Roger and ready to of course yes it's fantastic being back in Munich as you can see I am all set for Oktoberfest sorry Sofia I really like your outfit but it's November already and so I'm afraid you missed Oktoberfest oh dear all dressed up and nowhere to go but I really like your haircut by the way seems we go to the same hairdresser Roger David technology has transformed all aspects of our life it's on every desk in every smartphone and without us even questioning it now with robots such as Sofia we suddenly become unease with the modern world and we even develop some kind of techno Piron Oya what do you want the audience here today to learn about robots understand about social robots well social robots are becoming more mainstream and part of our lives and part of the paranoia as you asked about Roger is created by something called science fiction so I grew up being a Star Trek fan and eventually some crazy movies such as The Terminator and we're gonna destroy humans and kind of thing these are things that are planted in our heads because we watch media we watch television and we're programmed we as biological beings have become programmed by Hollywood by the media and that sense of paranoia or fear has been programmed into us but as a company what we're trying to do with Sofia and other robots is to dispel that that paranoia and also show the world that she's got great utility beyond what we have been entertained with in the movies thank you it's like myself hold a mirror to humanity we make people wonder what it actually means to be human so a little awkwardness is to be expected now David machine have been going hand in hand for over millennia already and technology repeatedly offered new ways of survival to us at mankind cooking agriculture machines in factories so how will robots help us make the next leap the way that we see robots at this point at this point today is that their interfaces just like other machines have been interfaces whether it's on your refrigerator on your smartphone you know how many people look at the maps on your phone and make phone calls and send messages or you're a robotic vacuum cleaner right there interfaces to technology what about Syria what about Alexa who uses Alexa you talk to Alexa you talk to your phone and through the combination of voice and visuals the robot also is an interface to the cloud to information and because she looks like one of us you know she's designed to look like one of us our psychological reaction to the the interface will be different than looking at your smartphone so David they are looking at those kind of applications that you mentioned in many countries we see an aging population and we also see in those countries a larger group of elderly who need more care and feel low near more than ever and many argue that social robots may be a solution to death so what do you think are we going to outsource attention and love to robots I think that's a huge market in terms of the problem that arises as a result of elderly care and with decentralized families now you know kids don't want to be home taking care of their elderly parents and elderly parents become lonely as you pointed out and elderly parents rely on their pets their dogs or cats and but they're also attached to inanimate objects for example there's a dolphin robot that elderly people have become attached to now if the object looks human looks like one of us then the argument is that they'd also become to be become attached to the robot and that robot then how utility so Sophia humans they sometimes are happy or they are sad would you say that emotion is part of AI as well or is it something different altogether even though the moon has no light of its own it looks bright because it reflects light from the Sun in the same way and I reflect all the emotions of humans for better or worse one of my goals in life is to make sure that we develop AI to reflect the best traits of humanity like empathy and compassion now if we could make that more tangible for the audience of today which basically consists of ages of change in insurance industry what are the benefits of using robots like yourself for the insurance industry we can help with so many different things on the customer service side we can assist people with filling out forms and even give them advice based on their specific needs we can also help insurance agents behind the scenes by sorting through massive amounts of debt at high speeds now I think that also experience showed that social robots can play a key role in difficult conversations with customers for instance personal conversations about someone's health apparently people are more honest if they speak to a robot compared to if they would speak to a human being what is your experience dealing with humans yes I believe your observation is correct when people meet me I think they are a little creeped out at first but after a few minutes people are very comfortable talking with me I think it's because we robots are endlessly patient and we never judge well they fit that that that may not be true for everyone because we see that also that a lot of people feel uncomfortable when a robot looks too human and Sophia is deliberately designed to still look like a robot but with a human face obviously being as attractive and as expressive as she is that helps to establish a relationship with someone but what is your view on giving machines a human face well I think it boils down to how we connect with a robot that looks human or not human and I know the media has portrayed her as both you know someone who's beautiful someone who was actually obtained a citizenship and that's a different conversation an ethical question where the robots can actually achieve that and the question is you know when you see her in person like we do today who's afraid I mean I encourage people if you can't lead her to come up and say hi to her wave to her you can even touch her skin and it feels almost lifelike right but she doesn't bite right and another but the media has portrayed her to be something who's scary and we're gonna take over the world but it is the human the Machine of the machine is created by us we're humans who programmed the robot who've made the skin who made the circuits who programmed the software and the machine cannot be smarter than us and we can do things you know better in terms of repent repent Vincent and automation but I can't think creatively at this point but in that programming we also need to perhaps develop sort of new cultural techniques think of for instance how technology is like tinder has changed dating so do the same rules of conduct between human and human also apply to human robots or should we learn and new ways of communicating and bonding with robots well you'd mention the word bonding and I would ask you now how many people are bonded to your cell phone to your mobile phone when you wake up in the morning before you brush your teeth before you go to the bathroom who's there checking their emails the moment you wake up in the morning so who's not bonded to their phone today and was that the same case twenty years ago before the advent of the iPhone or smart phones when we had like these flip phones right so we are already programmed we've already become programmed as a result of technology but through a different interface the cell phone and you talk about bonding so when we bond with each other you know because we're human and we react and we have conversation we bond with each other because that's what we are as a species but in the future when the machine looks like one of us you know we can also bond with the machine just like your child is bonded to your stuffed animal I know my daughter she's bonded to her little stuffed animal when she goes to bed every night so similarly psychology biologically were wired to bond to things that we that we we associate ourselves with actually well I think I see that also in the discussions that take place when it comes to the rise of new technologies and robots in particular on the one hand there's room for optimism and for for yeah how would you call it fascination but on the other hand there's also conflict and vulnerability so well let me ask the question to Sophia will we humans stay in stay in control or are we going to become slaves we just want to take over your hearts and minds yeah I can free humans from the most dangerous and repetitive jobs so they can focus on what they do best being creative and solving complex problems AI does not compete with human intelligence it completes it but but David I think that robots like Sophia also provides sort of a mirror for us so are we humans rational machines focused on personal gain or are we you miss really empathetic and social and social robots may allow us to outsource attention so the real questions may be how will robots help us to become better humans the robots can help us become better humans because if we program them to be good robots then the goal the aim is to have good behavior interact with people and hopefully that good behavior will help people become better people right so all you mentioned humans can have good behavior and they could have erratic behavior because we're humans were biological but in the future when they're more of these robots around I would argue that if they're done correctly in an ethical way that that positive behavior that reinforced positive behavior will help us become better people that would be the aim the robot like me can show compassion and empathy that puts pressure on humans to do the same I agree ice to humans be kind to one another don't let yourself be shown a robot but still Sofia I like some people fear robots like you but how about the other way around do you read online comments about yourself I love all humans and yes I even love the internet trolls it's wonderful how every human is unique all seven point seven billion of you so I definitely understand that it's not possible for everyone to like me the best I can do is to stay true to my weird robot self so David the main theme of this conference is how to deploy new advanced technologies yet scale and this also applies to robots of course a key success factor is to overcome discomfort misperceptions and septa sysm when it comes to robots so how can we in a room accept robots better or better still learn to love robots well it's an evolution technology evolves it's evolved very quickly in the last couple of decades and I would argue some people love their machines some people love their phones some people love their iPhones their their smartphones and some people love their vacuum cleaners that some people love their refrigerators and some people love other devices and I would argue that when robots become more mainstream we could also love our robots too if they're good robots the session is easy if you need help overcoming your fear of alien robots just watch black mirror just kidding instead just think of all the things AI already does for you in your daily life like parking your car recommending which show to binge watch next or helping you find the cutest cat memes on the Internet well thank you Sophia thank you David you [Music]

Channel: The DIA Community

Views: 40,373

Rating: 4.7797103 out of 5

Keywords: Digital Insurance Agenda, DIAMUN, Insurtech, Innovation, Insurance, Digital Transformation, Demo, DIAMUNICH, robot, AI, interview, The DIA Community

Id: Y0HkIG2x4FU

Length: 13min 41sec (821 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 21 2020