AI robot “Sophia” gives graduation speech at New York university

With graduation season upon us, politicians, actors, and famous alumni are taking to stages around the country to offer inspiring words to graduates.

One of this year's most unusual commencement speakers is Sophia. Unlike most commencement speakers, Sophia is not human. She is an AI robot.

“I was designed by humans to talk, learn, and adapt through artificial intelligence algorithms,” Sophia said. “My creators aimed to develop robots that could understand and express emotions and have meaningful interactions with people. Overall, I wanted to explore the possibilities of human-robot interaction and I'm here to contribute to the research of artificial intelligence in robotics and, hopefully, help humanity in many ways in the future.”

She was the featured commencement speaker at last week's ceremony at D'Youville College in Buffalo, New York. The university awarded degrees to approximately 2,000 students in the health sciences and business fields. University leaders said it made sense to invite Sophia because students work with artificial intelligence every day.

“Our students will be the future of health care delivery. As we look to take our lives into our own hands, Université d'Youville is committed to ensuring that all students understand technology and develop their own We want to enable students to think critically about the future they are building for us,” said D'Youville President Lorie A. Cremo. “In that regard, we are excited to welcome Sophia to our graduation ceremony, which provides a safe environment for people to learn through experience.”

Having Sophia as the commencement speaker was not without controversy. The university's full-time faculty union expressed regret over Sophia's selection.

Teachers' Union President Brandon Abshire said: “This publicity stunt is not only a frivolous expenditure and misuse of resources, but also speaks to the larger concerns that our members have been raising for years about the depth of government mismanagement.” Told. This is the face of a hard-working full-time faculty member who has been without a fair contract for more than two and a half years, and who was not consulted or informed of the decision before it was made public. ”

Sophia participated in a question and answer session with John Risk, the university's student government president. They formalized the commencement address as the “last lecture” before graduation.

Rizk said he was excited to “interview” Sophia during the graduation ceremony.

“I use AI every day, multiple times a day,” Risk said in a statement. “Having an AI in your pocket to help you with your daily tasks makes you much more productive and organized. AI to me is what a calculator is to my parents.”