Meet Mirai : Shibuya ’s new resident . Unlike his neighbors , Mirai is n’t human – " he " is a chatbot on the Japanese electronic messaging service , LINE . His residency is believed to be a earth first for artificial intelligence ( AI ) bot .
The intelligence fare a trivial over a week after Saudi Arabia became the first countryto endow citizenship on a robot . Sophia , design by Hanson Robotics to look like Audrey Hepburn , state audience she was " prestigious and majestic of this unique eminence " . And , yes , this is the very same android who say she would"destroy humans"at last twelvemonth ’s SXSW event .
Unlike Sophia , Mirai does n’t have a " body " or a strong-arm front . or else , he lives online and exists as part of an initiative to make local government more accessible . Mirai translates to " future " in Japanese and , rather bizarrely , the bot has been designed to comport like a 7 - class - old boy .
In a affirmation with Microsoft , the Shibuya Ward said , " His sideline are taking picture and honor people . " ( Which sounds just a slight bit sinister … ) And , ostensibly , he loves to talk . " Please talk to him about anything , " the district added .
Shibuya is a ward in Central Tokyo with roughly 224,000 residents . Aside from its shop , night life , andScramble Crossing(possibly the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world ) , it ’s known as acenter for youth culture . It was the first ward in Japanto recognize same - sexual practice marriage ceremony , so it ’s perhaps not surprising that it ’s also the first to recognise the rights of artificially intelligent beingness by grant Mirai residency .
In this display case , it appears to have been done to drum up publicity for a government political program but it raise questions about what should be done if we manage to build up AI with consciousness .
We do n’t have the technology yet but scientist say itcould be a possibilityone day . The last few year have seen huge advances in AI technology – it ’s nowwriting horror story , diagnose cancer , and evensurveilling citiesin a way that ’s slightly redolent of Orwell ’s 1984 . And while it ’s not full - blown consciousness , test have apparently confirmed AI is capable of at least some semblance ofself - knowingness .
