Has Dr M met his match with Sophia the AI robot?
On Wednesday (July 17), our eloquent Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad met Sophia, the first AI Robot (and non-human) to win the United Nations Development Programme’s Innovation.
Sophia, the woman-like robot adorned a red modern baju kurung had stunned Dr. Mahathir when he first saw her.
So much so that Sophia had to break the ice with Dr. Mahathir.
Good morning, Mahathir. I’m excited. I hope it is not too late to wish you congratulations on your re-election and happy 94th birthday.
Sophia via Bernama
As the ball got rolling, Sophia continued to dazzle Dr. Mahathir with facts and figures of his tenure as Prime Minister.
When Dr. Mahathir asked her if she knew anything about his first term as prime minister, she instantly answered the number of days he since he was first sworn in as prime minister on July 16, 1981; which was 13,881 days ago.
Dr. Mahathir then asked what made Sophia special compared to other robots.
Well, for starters, most other robots don’t get to hang out with the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Sophia via Facebook
Well, come to think of it, how many of us Malaysians have even met Dr. Mahathir?
It is reported that whilst Sophia was chatting with Dr. Mahathir, she was sketching something.
Only at the end of the 8-minute conversation, it was discovered that Sophia was in fact sketching a black-and-white portrait of him!
Dr. Mahathir said that Sophia doesn’t only amaze him but also terrifies him.
If I were to meet her in the middle of the night, I will surely flee
Dr. Mahathir to The Sun Daily
A creation of Hong Kong Company, Hanson Robotics, Sophia came to life on February 14, 2016.
Currently, Sophia can display more than 50 facial expressions and helps humans with artificial intelligence research.
Though in her spare time, she travels the world to meet people.
If you are interested in meeting Sophia, she will be in Kuching this weekend (July 20 and 21) at the Beyond Paradigm Summit.
In the meantime, you can watch Dr. Mahathir interacting with Sophia in the short video by MITEC below.
