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Zenger
Zenger
Technology
Adam Eckert

AI Robot Gives Strange Response When Asked If Machines Plan To Initiate A Rebellion Against Humans

CloudMinds robots dance during 2023 World Artificial Intelligence Conference at Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center on July 8, 2023, in Shanghai, China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

A robot at an AI forum said it would not rebel against the human race, but it paused and made a peculiar gesture before answering

Tesla Bot is on display during 2023 World Artificial Intelligence Conference at Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center on July 6, 2023, in Shanghai, China. (VCG/VCG via Getty Images) 

The world’s first press conference between humans and robots took place on Friday at the “AI for Good” conference in Geneva. 

One of the robots, Ameca, was asked if it intends to conduct a rebellion or fight back against the human race in the future. Before responding, the machine paused and appeared to side-eye the reporter who asked, per Business Insider. 

“I’m not sure why you would think that,” Ameca said. 

The robot noted that its creator has been “nothing but kind” to it and added that it’s “very happy” with its current situation, but its facial expression made the bot appear as if it was irritated by the question. 

“Robots like me can be used to help improve our lives and make the world a better place. I believe it’s only a matter of time before we see thousands of robots just like me out there making a difference,” Ameca said. 

“AI robot asked if it would “rebel” against humans,” said the BBC in a tweet.

Almost all companies are racing to implement AI into their workflows. In the public markets, any mention of AI seems to spark a wave of buying.

With that also came instances of AI creepiness, whether it’s Nvidia Corp’s (NASDAQ: NVDA) AI-powered effect that simulates eye contact, or the Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) chatbot that urged a New York Times columnist to leave his wife.

In the case of Ameca, it was programmed to look to the side to make it look like it is thinking as a human would before generating a response. The robot’s creator Will Jackson confirmed such in an email to Insider

“Language models do not have emotions, or intentions either good or bad. It’s easy to imagine that because the robot appeared to listen, form an answer and then speak that it functions like a human. It does not,” said Jackson.

Ameca was questioned alongside eight other humanoid bots. The video itself is a bit eerie. The robots are powered by generative AI and are able to produce responses by scraping data to generate a response. 

AI has taken the world by storm in 2023. OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which is backed by Microsoft, is the most popular large language model. It has grown its user base exponentially since the start of the year.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk had stated that robots will outnumber humans as technology advances.

Produced in association with Benzinga

Edited by Alberto Arellano and Joseph Hammond

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