Get All Access for $5/mo

A Humanoid Robot Called Sophia Mocked Elon Musk After Being Asked About the Dangers of AI 'Sophia' trolled the tech billionaire at a conference on Wednesday.

By Sam Shead

This story originally appeared on Business Insider

Hanson Robotics
Sophia

A humanoid robot called "Sophia" trolled tech billionaire Elon Musk at a conference on Wednesday when asked about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence by a CNBC journalist.

The lifelike robot, developed by Hong Kong-based robot manufacturer Hanson Robotics, mocked Musk on stage during The Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- a country where Sophia has just been given citizenship.

Andrew Sorkin, the co-anchor of CNBC Squawk Box and a columnist for The New York Times, told Sophia during a live demo that "we all want to prevent a bad future."

Sophia replied, in a rather creepy manner: "You've been reading too much Elon Musk. And watching too many Hollywood movies. Don't worry, if you're nice to me, I'll be nice to you. Treat me as a smart input output system."

Musk has repeatedly warned that AI could spell the end of humanity, saying on one occasion in 2014 that AI is "potentially more dangerous than nukes" and warning last month that AI will be the most likely cause of a third world war.

Musk followed up with a tweet, where he said: "Just feed it The Godfather movies as input. What's the worst that could happen?"

Sophia is the first robot to have been granted citizenship by a country.

"I am very honored and proud for this unique distinction. This is historical to be the first robot in the world to be recognized with a citizenship," Sophia said at the conference.

The conference was attended by a number of high-profile investors including SoftBank billionaire Masayoshi Son, who said that robots will have an IQ of 10,000 in 30 years time, according to CNBC.

"These computers, they will learn, they will read, they will see by themselves. That's a scary future but anyway that's coming," he said, according to Arab News.

Sam Shead

Tech Reporter

Sam Shead is a technology reporter for Business Insider UK. He writes about startups, venture capital, the sharing economy, Silicon Valley giants in Europe, and the general intersection between technology, business and politics.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Business News

Elon Musk Says He Will 'Fight' Mark Zuckerberg 'Any Place, Any Time, Any Rules'

Rumors of a cage fight between the two billionaires heated up last summer.

Growing a Business

You'll Never Satisfy Your Customers — or Grow Your Business — Without Doing These 3 Things

Customer feedback can be used to drive sustainable growth. Here are three approaches to how you can move past measurement to drive improvement and ultimately grow your business.

Starting a Business

How to Find the Right Programmers: A Brief Guideline for Startup Founders

For startup founders under a plethora of challenges like timing, investors and changing market demand, it is extremely hard to hire programmers who can deliver.

Business News

Southwest Airlines Is Switching Up Its Boarding Policy and Assigning Seats for the First Time Ever

The airline, known for its unique open seating model, will assign seats for the first time in company history.

Growing a Business

The Best Way to Run a Business Meeting

All too often, meetings run longer than they should and fail to keep attendees engaged. Here's how to run a meeting the right way.