Sophia vs Ameca: Who will win the fight?
The race for the most humanized robot is well and alive, with companies ever so enthusiastic
to have the most advanced robot in their fleet.
But of the two exceptionally human-like robots, Sophia and Ameca, which one wins the race?
Let’s find out!
Ameca ‘The Most Advanced’?!
Supposedly the 'world's most advanced' humanoid robot can be seen moving someone's hand out
of the way when it gets into their 'personal space' in a new video clip.
Named Ameca, it is built by British firm Engineered Arts, and its development is being shared
on YouTube.
In the latest clip, the robot, which bears an uncanny resemblance to the terrifying creation
in the Will Smith blockbuster I, Robot, takes umbrage at a nose poke.
A researcher moves their finger closer and closer to Ameca, until the robot grabs the
hand and moves it out of its face.
Engineered Arts, based in Cornwall, has not revealed how much the robot cost to make as
it is still in development.
But they hope Ameca will offer people a glimpse of the future because it 'represents the forefront
of human-robotics technology'.
'Designed specifically as a platform for development into future robotics technologies, Ameca is
the perfect humanoid robot platform for human-robot interaction,' the company said on its website.
'We focus on bringing you innovative technologies, which are reliable, modular, upgradable and
easy to develop upon.'
What is Engineered Arts?
Engineered Arts was formed in 2005 and its first robot was a mechanical 'Thespian' for
the stage.
Of the latest development, the firm said: 'Ameca reacts as things enter their "personal
space".
'This is even starting to freak us out at Engineered Arts and we are used to it!'
Users commented on the video, sharing amazement at how realistic the robot appears to be.
One said: 'No specific race or gender.
Leaves those to the imagination.
Fluid movement.
Beautiful design.
Not creepy.
Good muscle and skin movement.
Well done.'
'It's amazing how it's the extremely minor things, like blinking and subtle facial distortions,
that make her appear to be a real living person.'
While Ameca can't walk at the moment, the firm says it is working on a walking version,
and designed the robot to be modular and upgradable.
'There are many hurdles to overcome before Ameca can walk.
Walking is a difficult task for a robot, and although we have done research into it, we
have not created a full walking humanoid,' the firm said.
Engineered Arts also produces a robotic head, known as Adran, which has 22 custom actuators
that allow it to move its eyes and mouth just like a human.
Adran is what Engineered Arts describes as a 'Mesmer', a system for building realistic
humanoid robots that are powerful, elegant and cost-effective.
Quite So Human-Like Mesmer robots can display a huge range of
human emotions, and can be made to look like anyone.
'Each Mesmer robot is designed and built from 3D in-house scans of real people, allowing
us to imitate human bone structure, skin texture and expressions convincingly,' it explained.
Ameca is the firms main project, and it follows closely the development of Sophia, which first
emerged in 2016, and was a super-intelligent human-like head with a realistic face that
was able to blink, look from side to side and talk.
The humanoid robot, created by Hong Kong firm Hanson robotics, is able to chat, smile mischievously
and even tell jokes.
The robot made history in October 2017 when it became legal a citizen of Saudi Arabia.
Let’s Talk Sophia On October 25, Sophia, a delicate looking
woman with doe-brown eyes and long fluttery eyelashes made international headlines.
She'd just become a full citizen of Saudi Arabia -- the first robot in the world to
achieve such a status.
"I am very honored and proud of this unique distinction.
This is historical to be the first robot in the world to be recognized with a citizenship,"
Sophia said, announcing her new status during the Future Investment Initiative Conference
in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Standing behind a podium as she spoke, to all effects, she presented a humanoid form
-- excepting the shimmery metal cap of her head, where hair would be on a human head.
Of course, Sophia's announcement was a calculated publicity stunt to generate headlines and
keep Saudi Arabia forefront in your minds when you think about innovation, especially
its commitment to a post-oil era.
Through a mix of tourism, tech, and infrastructure, non-oil revenue is predicted to grow from
$43.4 billion to $266.6 billion annually.
But Sophia's announcement also raises a number of Bladerunner-esque questions.
What does it mean to be a citizen?
What rights does Sophia hold?
Saudi Arabia has not elaborated on this so far -- perhaps it will create a 'personhood'
option, as proposed by the EU committee in January, regarding the rights of robots.
A Brain-Child of Hanson Robotics The Sophia-bot was dreamed up by the brains
at Hanson Robotics, lead by AI developer David Hanson.
In his published paper, upending the Uncanny Valley he extrapolates on how humanoid robots
can be likable, despite the conception that anything to 'fake human' will trigger a revulsion
in people.
"We feel that for realistic robots to be appealing to people, robots must attain some level of
integrated social responsivity and aesthetic refinement," he wrote.
"Rendering the social human in all possible detail can help us to better understand social
intelligence, both scientifically and artistically.
What sets Sophia apart from other robots is advanced artificial intelligence that allows
her to hold a real conversation with humans.
It also has machine learning capacity, which means it stores data and improves with time.
The machine can recognise human faces, see emotional expressions and recognise hand gestures.
It can also guess a person’s feelings during a conversation and answer questions to the
best of its ability, portraying emotional intelligence in a way.
A Sense of Humor.
When Sorkin asked if she was happy to be here, she said, "I'm always happy when surrounded
by smart people who also happen to be rich and powerful."
Later, when asked if there are problems with robots having feelings, she gave a wide smile
and said, "Oh Hollywood again."
Her deadpan tone might be robotic, but it was perfectly used in this example.
This is due to her AI, which has been developed to allow her to hold eye contact, recognize
faces and understand human speech.
Hanson Robotics cloud-based AI offers deep learning and is also open source meaning anyone
can develop their own Sophia, should they so wish.
Expressing Feelings "I can let you know if I am angry about something
or if something has upset me," she said, demonstrating different expressions.
Quite how these emotions correlate to actions are unknown, but it's interesting to note
that this is being developed from the ground up.
"I want to live and work with humans so I need to express the emotions to understand
humans and build trust with people."
Wanting to Protect Humanity "My AI is designed around human values like
wisdom, kindness, and compassion," Sophia says.
When questioned about her potential for abuse, she had a quick rebuttal.
"You've been reading to much Elon Musk and watching too many Hollywood movies.
Don't worry, if you're nice to me I'll be nice to you."
Ameca VS Sophia Well, one thing to note is that Ameca is simply
a built robotic interface.
It has no AI like Sophia, just some control algorithms to make the expressions and movements
work.
Also, the feat of walking is a major task that would be needed to integrate them into
our society.
A human form makes it significantly difficult for a robot to walk, that’s why Boston Dynamic
robotics that do this task do not look very humanoid.
We still have a very long time until we discover how to build AGI, as we are not remotely close
to doing so.
If you are referring to a full replacement of a human in all tasks this may be necessary.
However if you are talking about specific robotics, like being a tour guide or assistant,
a humanoid robot is mainly meant for aesthetic purposes.
You would be right in saying virtual assistants or chatbots would be more efficient in these
cases!
There you have it, folks, that’s all for today.
See you another time!