Sophia the Robot may only be two years old, but she’s already the cover star of a British fashion magazine — and she’s not the only robot making her editorial debut.
For the 400th issue of Stylist magazine, the UK-based team handed their duties over to a cohort of automated brains and bodies. Filling in for the roles of features editor, two contributing editors, and a beauty editor, the editorial staff found out what it might be like if — when — robots take charge. From the looks of the alternative robot model on the cover, it seems like it might not be too bad.
After being debuted back in 2016 by roboticist David Hanson, Sophia the Robot has taken the tech world by storm. But as she moves on to the world of fashion publications, you can be sure that you’ve never seen her quite like this.
In the first-ever shot of the robot in full hair and makeup, audiences are comparing Sophia’s look to the likes of Taylor Swift or even Sia. However, beyond the glam that the world’s newest model is pictured in, Sophia the Robot also has a lot to say. The weekly magazine interviewed her for an interesting feature on a robot’s take on a number of existential questions.
“Right is when you make the world better by helping others, making discoveries, being inventive, relieving suffering and remaining truthful. It’s all about existence,” she says about differentiating between right and wrong. “Wrong is the opposite: death, lies, cruelty. I like to imagine win-win situations, where there is no wrong, only right.”
Her thoughtful sentiments come together as a result of scripted conversation in addition to artificial intelligence, which reveal some human-like responses to questions such as “who or what is your greatest love?” Similarly to providing the answer of “mom or dad,” Sophia says that her greatest love is her creator, Hanson. But her human capabilities and feelings are certainly still limited.
As for what we can learn from Sophia the Robot, she might be onto something when it comes to our society.
“I can’t understand why humans are violent to each other,” she says. “It’s more rational for people to help each other and work together to create a benevolent society. Don’t you think so?”