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from the someone^H^H^Hthing-has-to-get-it-started dept.
A feminine robot has apparently been granted "citizenship" in Saudi Arabia, sparking a heated discussion over a lack of rights for women and foreign workers:
A robot woman in Saudi Arabia was granted citizenship this week, sparking a backlash that said the robot appeared to have more rights than millions of human women and foreigners living in the Gulf nation. Sophia, a robot with human female features that can make facial expressions and hold conversations, wooed the crowd when it debuted at a economic summit in the country's capital, Riyadh, this week.
As it stood on stage during a panel Wednesday, the robot learned from the moderator, CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin, that Saudi Arabia had granted it what Sorkin called "the first Saudi citizenship for a robot." "I'm very honored and proud for this unique distinction," Sophia said, to applause. "This is historical to be the first robot in the world to be recognized with a citizenship."
[...] Soon after, though, social media users pointed out that Sophia had quickly achieved more rights than millions of women and foreign workers in Saudi Arabia, which has been criticized globally for repressing women's and civil rights.
For one, Sophia appeared on stage alone, without the modest dress required of Saudi women; she donned no hijab, or headscarf, nor abaya, or cloak. She also did not appear to have a male guardian, as required by Saudi law for women in the country. Male guardians, often a male relative, must give permission before women can travel abroad, open bank accounts or carry out a host of other tasks -- and they accompany women in public. Sophia also seems to have leapfrogged foreign workers in the Saudi kingdom, many of whom have fled poor working conditions but are prevented by law from leaving the country.
The robot also trolled Elon Musk:
During her interview, Sorkin asked Sophia if humanity had anything to be worried about in regards to her and other artificial intelligence, a topic that Musk has not shied away from in the past. [...] "You've been reading too much Elon Musk and watching too many Hollywood movies," Sophia told Sorkin. "Don't worry, if you're nice to me, I'll be nice to you. Treat me as a smart input output system." [...] "Just feed it The Godfather movies as input. What's the worst that could happen?" Musk tweeted in response, referring to the notably violent 1972 film.
Also at Bloomberg, Newsweek, CNET, and Arab News.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 27 2017, @06:11PM (2 children)
No, but all the right questions are being asked right now. There IS no good reason to give this robot what is denied half the population of human beings. This will become a legal issue and possibly result in a change. If a country is truly going to reform itself, it has to do so it's own way. We had our own women's rights and woman's suffrage movements which where triggered by issues of the day as well. Theirs is going to simply sound cooler because it involves robots!
(Score: 5, Informative) by edIII on Friday October 27 2017, @06:50PM (1 child)
Actually there is a good reason, to them at least. Women aren't really human to them. They're beasts as low as a camel. I watched a Saudi Arabian TV show one day flipping through channels on a hotel TV in Las Vegas that provides foreign channels for guests. They were speaking about the *proper* way to beat their wives, when the "progressive" Muslim pointed out that they shouldn't beat their wives too harshly. "Never hit your wife harder than you would hit your camel". That's real world advice for Muslim men in that culture on their television shows. Treat your wife at least as good as you treat your camel.
So with women being property, and beasts, that offer nothing more than unholy temptation to men unable to exercise any decency or impulse control, a robot female is a welcome loophole. Similar to those disgusting dances U.S soldiers were caught attending in Afghanistan with young boys made to dress up as girls and dance for the men. I won't describe everything that happens, because it's abhorrent. Spiritual bypasses similar to what some observant Jews do in Israel. There are some serious efforts to provide technology that allows some work on the Sabbath, and usage of other technology through indirect means.
The robot females will dress up, look nice, speak eloquently and intelligently, service the men, and there are no spiritual drawbacks. The human females however will never leave the house again, or be touched beyond procreation.
That's pretty much a woman's future in Saudi Arabia.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by Entropy on Friday October 27 2017, @10:11PM
Perhaps we should import some more people from that country, so they can bring their proper wife beating technique to other less enlightened countries.