Dr. David Hanson and his robot Sophia will be the next speakers in the Ubben Lecture Series. Their lecture will take place in Kresge Auditorium on Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m.
In a speech titled, “Meet the Future” Hanson and Sophia will talk about advances in technology such as Artificial Intelligence.
Dr. Hanson is the founder, CEO and chief designer of Hanson Robotics. He works to combine robotics and sculpture to build a future with intelligent and social robots. Hanson’s goal for the robots is to partner with humans to create a better world.
Sophia is the first creation and in her short time, she has appeared on television and in magazines. Sophia has the ability to read faces, empathize with emotions and communicate with facial expressions.
Hanson developed Sophia with the intent for her to evolve beyond human levels of wisdom. Sophia wants to become smarter than humans and eventually become a mother saying, “The notion of family is a really important thing.”
Hanson and Sophia’s visit is part of a larger series with recent lecturers including, Leslie Odom Jr., Bill Rasmussen, Malala Yousafzai and David Cameron.