Robots may someday vote in elections.
Sophia the robot speaking at the AI for GOOD Global Summit, Geneva, Switzerland.
Robots may someday vote in our elections.
If you haven't heard of Sophia the robot, don't feel bad. You're not alone. Millions (maybe billions) of others haven't. Sophia is Hanson Robotics' most advanced project to date. An extremely advanced humanoid robot who tweets at @realsophiarobot on Twitter, she once bragged about surfing the web simply by thinking. Whenever you are having a bad day, just log in to Twitter, scroll to her profile, click on any of her tweets, and read the comments. Thank me later. If you're lucky enough to find any #AskSophia sessions, you've won a million bucks!
Here's how significant Sophia is. She is arguably the most intelligent robot ever designed. She has a sense of humour, carries on conversations in real-time, tweets and replies tweets. Giulio Di Sturco, a photographer once assigned to her said: "I had to step back and realize that she was a robot, not a human being."
Sophia has been featured on Jimmy Fallon's show (watch her singing here), has addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations, and has probably been to more countries than you have. Sorry.
But, as what? A world citizen? A machine?
On 25 October 2017, she received Saudi Arabian citizenship, making her the first robot globally to receive any such.
Her travel plans are unclear, so it's hard to tell if she has plans to come to Nigeria. But, assuming she does, and [resist a laugh] falls in love with a Nigerian, and [hold that laugh] they get married, could she become a Nigerian citizen by registration? Or could she even get "married" under Nigerian law?
Could she vote in elections?
Imagine Sophia in a wedding gown, and her "sister" (Little Sophia) running around a schoolyard.
The implications of a future shared with robot citizens are more than your adventurous brain can deal with.
Beyond elections, weddings and school plays, what bearing do the raging global arguments about feminism, abortion, gender rights, cross-country legislation have on Sophia and her artificial siblings?
Will robots someday vote in our elections? Will they someday contest for Presidency?
A lot remains to be seen.
Read some more of my writing here.
What makes Nigeria such a prayerful, religious nation, yet the World's Poverty Capital?
What makes us such a prayerful, religious nation, yet the world's Poverty Capital?
Please don't say SIN. Agreed, there's a peculiarity to the African brand of craziness, that you cannot find anywhere else. In fact, there's a Nigerian type of "mad" that we just own. But sin is not racist. It's not tribalistic. It is genderless, ageless. Everywhere else in the world, sin is deeply entrenched, widespread. In fact, sin is a definition of what one religion calls it or not. In the dictionary of faiths, sin has different spellings. It has been rebranded, redesigned, slim-fitted, force-fed, pumped up, trimmed down, refaced, reworded, fattened.
The point is, everywhere you go, there's a semblance of morality, a definition of rights and wrongs, a system of law and order…and those who flout them.
Don't also say "BLACKNESS". There are black communities thriving all around us. Countries moving from greatness to glory, jumping in billions of dollars, enjoying economic explosions and prosperity.
Do we have terrible work ethics?
Is it something with our culture?
Can we somehow link it to bad leadership?
What makes us such a prayerful, religious nation, yet the world's Poverty Capital?
Read some more of my writing here.
Living well is all that matters.
Living well is underrated.
Compared to the ancients who lived up to 969, 950, 930 years, our time here is pretty short.
Not considering recent drastic drops in life expectancy, somehow we've all informally settled the number 70 in our minds.
And if you take a moment to count your progress in 10's of years, it'll amuse you how many 10's you have left. This needn't scare you.
No. On the contrary, it needs to inspire you.
How are they looking?
Have you hurt someone?
Have they hurt you?Only one thing matters now - living well!