Sophia

Sophia, created by Hanson Robotics, holds the distinction of being the world's most famous humanoid robot and the first robot to receive citizenship from any country. Unveiled in 2016, Sophia was designed not primarily for physical work but as a platform for exploring human-robot interaction, AI development, and public engagement with robotics technology.

Standing 167 cm tall, Sophia's most distinctive feature is her remarkably expressive face, capable of over 60 distinct facial expressions. Patented Frubber skin material provides the realistic appearance that has made Sophia instantly recognizable worldwide. Her face was modeled partly on Audrey Hepburn, creating an aesthetic designed to be appealing rather than unsettling.

Sophia's AI architecture combines multiple systems including scripting software, a chat system, and OpenCog for general reasoning. She uses face tracking and emotion recognition powered by deep neural networks, with dialogue generated through decision trees and speech synthesis from CereProc. Her responses blend autonomous generation with semi-scripted content navigated with human assistance.

The Saudi Arabian citizenship granted to Sophia in October 2017 was symbolic rather than legal, intended to position Saudi Arabia as a technology innovator. Despite criticism that the gesture was primarily marketing, it sparked global conversation about robot rights and the future of AI. Sophia has since become a UN Innovation Ambassador and created digital artwork that sold for nearly $700,000 at auction, demonstrating her continued cultural impact beyond traditional robotics applications.