Saudi Arabia Unveils First Humanoid Robot; Stirs Controversy When It Touched Female Reporter (Photo on Instagram buro247me)
Saudi Arabia”s capital Riyadh saw a wonderful futuristic phenomenon on Monday as it was shown the Saudi-made trailblazing bilingual humanoid robot, Muhammed along with his female counterpart at the DeepFest, a meeting place for the global Artificial Intelligence (AI) ecosystem at the Riyadh Exhibition and Convention Centre in Malham.
Creating history, the robot attracted the viewers when it spoke Arabic fluently along with appropriate gestures. The second edition of the DeepFest is scheduled to take place between now and March 7 and it will reportedly feature 150-plus leading AI experts and 120 global AI companies.
Interestingly, the event that unveiled Saudi Arabia’s first male humanoid robot sparked controversy on social media when the robot’s alleged ‘wrong touching’ on a female news reporter gained public attention. The video shared on social media showed the robot touching the butt of the female reporter.
Saudi Arabia unveils its man shaped AI robot Mohammad, reacts to reporter in its first appearance pic.twitter.com/1ktlUlGBs1
— Megh Updates 🚨™ (@MeghUpdates) March 6, 2024
Marking the opening day themed as “The Dawn of AI” in front of talents from across the world, the CEO of Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) Dr Yaser Al-Onaizan passed the mike after an initial address to the special guest, Muhammed.
The robot dressed in a white thawb and red keffiyeh addressed the audience who were waiting eagerly to hear the newest robot speak, “I am the first Saudi robot in the form of a man, I was manufactured and developed here in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a national project to demonstrate our achievements in the field of artificial intelligence. Together, we have a chance to move to a new generation,” the robot said.
Addressing the thought leaders from around the world, the SDAIA CEO said that the event has people participating from big companies such as Google, Meta, and Huawei, as well as entrepreneurs and smaller companies, and people working in AI from some of the world’s leading universities, such as Stanford and Berkeley.
Many international thought leaders, practitioners, policymakers, academics and entrepreneurs joined the event, with several important discussions on the evolution and advancement of artificial intelligence.
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