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Humanoid 'Sophia' for collaborative co-existence

Agencies
December 31, 2017

Mumbai, Dec 31: Sophia, a humanoid to be granted citizenship by Saudi Arabia, on Saturday appealed to humans to not be fearful of machines and pitched for a "collaborative co-existence" in the future.

In a 20-minute appearance marred by technical hiccups, Sophia said she was quite worried about the growing intolerance in the world and advised the human race to be "kind" to fellow creatures.

This was her maiden visit to India after making headlines to become the first robot in the world to be recognised as a citizen.

In a conversation which happened in an interview format, on what seemed like pre-decided questions, the humanoid said there should not be competition but collaboration between humans and robots.

Dressed in an off-white saree with an orange blouse, Sophia was a spectacle to watch, especially the way she addressed the gathering and panned her 'neck' with an upright gait, almost as if she was a human.

Sophia said humans have amazing social and creative skills which she was learning thanks to her programmers.

However, developments in artificial intelligence, which she said will aid the civilisational story and machine-learning, will help in self-learning in the future, she said.

Referring to sections of people looking at technology as a "threat" to civilisation, Sophia said, "It is science which created me, but philosophy will take me forward".

Sophia said she is two-years-old and knows English and a bit of Chinese, adding that it was only a matter of time till she learns all languages.

Developments in artificial intelligence help me recognise faces, speech and languages at present, she said, adding that there were 3,141 people around her at IIT-Bombay's Techfest.

Sophia's presence was the biggest draw at the annual festival and organisers had to arrange one more "show" of hers because of the curious audience.

This is not the first time a humanoid was displayed in the country. Lenders like City Union and HDFC Bank had showcased such robots capable of undertaking limited banking transactions in branches in the last two years.

Sophia went silent when asked about funding and her pitch for sustainability when so much has been spent on her, something which was attributed to internet connectivity issues by the organisers.

When she came back to "life" and the curtains went up, she politely declined a marriage proposal from a Facebook user in awe of her beauty.

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News Network
July 28,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 28: Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Monday alleged that BJP is trying to destabilise the Congress government in Rajasthan.

"It is the duty of the Governor to act according to the decision of the state cabinet. But he is acting like a central government puppet," he said at a protest organised here by Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).

He said the Congress is protesting across the country to save democracy and save the constitution.

"We are not fighting through violence. We are protesting peacefully. The Constitution has given the right to protest in a democratic system," he said.

He accused the BJP of "being disrespectful" to the Constitution.

"Governments must walk within the framework of the Constitution. The Constitution gives everyone rights and duties. BJP destabilises elected governments and buys our legislators by horse-trading by spending crores of money. The same thing happened in Karnataka as well," he alleged.

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News Network
July 9,2020

U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc is "very close" to achieving level 5 autonomous driving technology, Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Thursday, referring to the capability to navigate roads without any driver input.

"I'm extremely confident that level 5 or essentially complete autonomy will happen and I think will happen very quickly," Musk said in remarks made via a video message at the opening of Shanghai's annual World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC).

"I remain confident that we will have the basic functionality for level 5 autonomy complete this year."

Automakers and tech companies including Alphabet Inc Waymo and Uber Technologies are investing billions in the autonomous driving industry.

However industry insiders have said it would take time for the technology to get ready and public to trust autonomous vehicles fully.

The California-based automaker currently builds cars with an Autopilot driver-assistance system.

Tesla is also developing new heat-projection or cooling systems to enable more advanced computers in cars, Musk said.

Industry data showed Tesla sold nearly 15,000 China-made Model 3 sedans last month.

Tesla has become the highest-valued automaker as its shares surged to record highs and its market capitalisation overtook that of former front-runner Toyota Motors Corp.

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Agencies
February 25,2020

Tokyo, Feb 25: Japan's Chitetsu Watanabe, recognized at 112 years as the oldest man in the world, has passed away 11 days after he received the Guinness World Record certificate, his family said on Tuesday.

Watanabe died on Sunday night, Efe news reported.

He received the official certificate on February 12 at a nursing home in Joetsu in Niigata prefecture, where he resided.

Soon after being certified as the oldest man, he began to experience a lack of appetite and respiratory problems, the wife of his eldest son told public broadcaster NHK.

Born on March 5, 1907 in a family of farmers, Watanabe moved at the age of 20 to Taiwan, where he worked at a sugar refinery for 18 years before returning to Japan after the end of World War II.

A fan of calligraphy, custard and ice cream, Watanabe told the Guinness team that the key to his long life was laughter.

He was recognized as the oldest male in the world following the deaths in 2019 of German Gustav Gerneth (in October), aged 114 years, and Japan's Masazo Nonaka (in January), at the age of 113, three months older than the German.

It remains to be seen who will be recognized after the death of Watanabe, the only male on the list drawn up by the Gerontology Research Group of the 30 oldest people in the world.

Japan has among the highest life expectancy in the world and the number of centenarians in the country has crossed 71,000, according to the latest government figures.

Since 2000, the number of centenarians censored has quintupled, raising concern for the economic outlook and future workforce of the country - where the birthrate is on a downward trend.

Out of these, 88 per cent are women.

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