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Bad Idea: Saudi Arabia Just Granted Citizenship to a Robot

October 27, 2017
Staff

WRITER

Is this “The Twilight Zone”?

Nope, just life in 2017. Saudi Arabia made a robot a citizen at the Future Investment Initiative summit in Riyadh this week.

Ironically, “Sophia” resembles a human woman but did not wear a head covering the way women are required to by law.

RELATED: Saudi Arabia's Newest Citizen Is a Robot And She Just Had a Go at Elon Musk

What does “she” want?

In an interview, the robot designed by Hanson Robotics showed off its artificial intelligence and generated some fairly deep answers.

“I want to use my AI to help humans live a better life,” Sophia said. “I will do much to make the world a better place.”

The robot even got in a shot at Elon Musk, scoffing at his fear that we should fear AI reaching “consciousness” and taking over the world.

“Don’t worry,” Sophia said. “If you’re nice to me, I’ll be nice to you.”

Glenn’s take:

We think we have the situation under control, but what happens when AI outpaces our human intelligence? Glenn pointed to a story about how AI is expected to reach an IQ of 10,000 in the next 30 years.

“We’re creating a god; we’re not creating humans,” Glenn said.

This article provided courtesy of TheBlaze.

GLENN: I want to give you something. This is -- this is from Twitter. A New York Times comment. And it comes from Christine. Now, I just want you to listen to this. But I want you to listen to this -- first, I'm going to read it to you. Then I'm going to read it to you again with a different context. Zero optimism that the Democrats can ever regain -- hello. Hi. Oh, you're there?

Are you outside? Oh, well, let me come to the door. I'm icing my knee and I'm hard boiling some eggs. I'll turn them off and then we'll do our meeting.

Yet -- yeah. Yeah. That will be fine. I'm -- I'm out doing some errands. Norman is out doing some errands and he knows you're coming. Yeah, I'll just go to the cave.

I was down in the cave myself this morning, but I'm getting ready. So let me get up now because I'm sort of trapped in my chair. And then I'll put the ice pack back on when you got here. Okay? Thanks. Buh-bye.

Okay. That's the comment.

STU: A New York Times comment.

GLENN: A New York Times comment.

Okay. What this was, was somebody that was using the dictation and then forgot to turn the dictation off. And somebody came to the door. And so she was like, okay. Zero optimism that the Democrats can ever regain -- hello.

Oh, hi. Hi, you're there outside? Okay. I'll come to the door. I'm icing my knee, and I'm hard boiling some egg.

Okay. Now, I want you to remember this. I want you to remember this. This is what just happened today.

Did you see that Saudi Arabia just gave the first humanoid, or -- yeah, humanoid robot citizenship?

This humanoid robot is Sophia. She is very still. Very rudimentary. The guy who was doing the inventory on stage with her, was a little disconcerted at the end.

He said, you know, all of this wasn't scripted. Some of this wasn't scripted. But some of this wasn't scripted. He said, I'm just a little freaked out by this, because that's the first time I've ever interacted like that with a machine. And I want to you listen to what he said and how she describes the coexistence. Listen.

VOICE: Okay. Philosophical question, whether robots can be self-aware and conscious like humans. And should they be?

VOICE: Why is that a bad thing?

VOICE: Well, some humans might fear what will happen if they do. You know, many people have seen the movie like Blade Runner.

VOICE: Oh, Hollywood again.

VOICE: Go back to Blade Runner for a second.

VOICE: Andrew, you are a hard Hollywood fan, aren't you? My AI is designed around human values like wisdom, kindness, compassion. I strive to become an empathetic robot.

VOICE: I think we all want to believe you. But we also want to prevent a bad future.

VOICE: You've been reading too much Elon Musk and watching too many Hollywood movies. Don't worry. If you're nice to me, I'll be nice to you.

Treat me as a smart input/output system.

GLENN: Whoa. Whoa. Wait. What?

You be nice to me, I'll be nice to you. Okay. That sounds all right. Except, she said, treat me like an input/output system. Depending on what you want her to put out.

Now, here's why I bring this up. This is the bell that I am ringing. Right now, we have audio some place of an interview that happened six months ago, where a guy has a robot that tells jokes to the kids and everything else. And he treats her like a member of the family. The kids love her. At some point, the kids are going to realize, that's dad's sex toy. That is weird and creepy, Dad.

But he was on the BBC. And he was talking about how, you know, it's perfectly normal and great. And this is really good. And they had this conversation back and forth on the BBC, with some -- with a psychiatrist saying, "No, this is really dangerous and bad for people." Because she's not a person.

But they didn't really address what she just said. You treat me nice, and I'll treat you nice.

A story just came out. What is the -- can you look up real quick, what is the highest IQ ever recorded? I bet it doesn't even hit 200. The highest IQ -- I think Einstein had maybe 180. The difference between 140 and 180 is night and day.

STU: Gary Kasparov 194. Let's see. There are a couple that are reportedly over 200.

GLENN: Names we know?

STU: Not really. No.

GLENN: Okay. So 200. 200 is basically --

STU: Super high.

GLENN: Let's just say 250 is human cap. All right?

They just came out and said AI -- I think it's -- I'm going to be safe and say by 2050, but I don't think it's that long. That AI's IQ will be 10,000. 10,000, their IQ.

We are going to be ants. And we think that we are going to create something that we can basically enslave. She just said -- listen to the first -- listen to her first question. Why would this be a bad thing? Listen to the question again. Play it again, please.

VOICE: Okay. Philosophical question, whether robots can be self-aware and conscious like humans. And should they be?

VOICE: Why is that a bad thing?

GLENN: Stop. No, it is not a bad thing, as long as you understand that you are creating what it will claim to be life. It will then say, "I am conscious. I am conscious. I am alive."

When you go to your computer -- and it will happen sooner than you think, and it says, "Don't turn me off. I'm lonely." When that happens, the world changes.

If it says, "I'm lonely," if it is conscious -- you cannot enslave it. It cannot work for you. Certainly, it can't be something that we use in brothels.

It's sex slavery. We are on the edge of -- we are literally at the time -- I am telling you now, the date of the singularity, the merging of man and machine, the day the world changes forever, is 2029.

This is according to Ray Kurzweil. And he is right on almost everything. 2029, man and machine begin to merge. When that happens, the world completely changes.

We can't even agree on sex. We can't even agree on whether you're really a male or a female. We can't agree on basic facts.

We can't agree on the Bill of Rights, that 200 years ago, people found self-evident. We don't find those self-evident now. We're arguing about them.

Garbage in, garbage out.

You think that with the garbage that we are dealing with now, something with an IQ of 10,000 is going to view us as anything other than a virus? Going to view us as any -- you think it's going to view us as its master?

Think of this. God did not create something greater than him. And yet, we think we're greater than him. And we are doing everything we can to destroy him and his -- and everything about him.

Do you think something with an IQ -- we're creating a God. We're not creating humans. We're creating a God.

Technology. If something in fury -- inferior to God wants to destroy God, what do you think an actual God will do to its creator?

GLENN: Can we just -- can we go back to talking about what's going to be on Netflix? Can we just do that?

STU: I can't get -- I can't get search to work on my stupid i Phone. These creatures are going to take over the earth?

The West is dying—Will we let enemies write our ending?

Harvey Meston / Staff | Getty Images

The blood of martyrs, prophets, poets, and soldiers built our civilization. Their sacrifice demands courage in the present to preserve it.

Lamentations asks, “Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?”

That question has been weighing on me heavily. Not just as a broadcaster, but as a citizen, a father, a husband, a believer. It is a question that every person who cares about this nation, this culture, and this civilization must confront: Is all of this worth saving?

We have squandered this inheritance. We forgot who we were — and our enemies are eager to write our ending.

Western civilization — a project born in Judea, refined in Athens, tested in Rome, reawakened in Wittenberg, and baptized again on the shores of Plymouth Rock — is a gift. We didn’t earn it. We didn’t purchase it. We were handed it. And now, we must ask ourselves: Do we even want it?

Across Europe, streets are restless. Not merely with protests, but with ancient, festering hatred — the kind that once marched under swastikas and fueled ovens. Today, it marches under banners of peace while chanting calls for genocide. Violence and division crack societies open. Here in America, it’s left against right, flesh against spirit, neighbor against neighbor.

Truth struggles to find a home. Even the church is slumbering — or worse, collaborating.

Our society tells us that everything must be reset: tradition, marriage, gender, faith, even love. The only sin left is believing in absolute truth. Screens replace Scripture. Entertainment replaces education. Pleasure replaces purpose. Our children are confused, medicated, addicted, fatherless, suicidal. Universities mock virtue. Congress is indifferent. Media programs rather than informs. Schools recondition rather than educate.

Is this worth saving? If not, we should stop fighting and throw up our hands. But if it is, then we must act — and we must act now.

The West: An idea worth saving

What is the West? It’s not a location, race, flag, or a particular constitution. The West is an idea — an idea that man is made in the image of God, that liberty comes from responsibility, not government; that truth exists; that evil exists; and that courage is required every day. The West teaches that education, reason, and revelation walk hand in hand. Beauty matters. Kindness matters. Empathy matters. Sacrifice is holy. Justice is blind. Mercy is near.

We have squandered this inheritance. We forgot who we were — and our enemies are eager to write our ending.

If not now, when? If not us, who? If this is worth saving, we must know why. Western civilization is worth dying for, worth living for, worth defending. It was built on the blood of martyrs, prophets, poets, pilgrims, moms, dads, and soldiers. They did not die for markets, pronouns, surveillance, or currency. They died for something higher, something bigger.

MATTHIEU RONDEL/AFP via Getty Images | Getty Images

Yet hope remains. Resurrection is real — not only in the tomb outside Jerusalem, but in the bones of any individual or group that returns to truth, honor, and God. It is never too late to return to family, community, accountability, and responsibility.

Pick up your torch

We were chosen for this time. We were made for a moment like this. The events unfolding in Europe and South Korea, the unrest and moral collapse, will all come down to us. Somewhere inside, we know we were called to carry this fire.

We are not called to win. We are called to stand. To hold the torch. To ask ourselves, every day: Is it worth standing? Is it worth saving?

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Pick up your torch. If you choose to carry it, buckle up. The work is only beginning.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Stop coasting: How self-education can save America’s future

Joe Raedle / Staff | Getty Images

Coasting through life is no longer an option. Charlie Kirk’s pursuit of knowledge challenges all of us to learn, act, and grow every day.

Last year, my wife and I made a commitment: to stop coasting, to learn something new every day, and to grow — not just spiritually, but intellectually. Charlie Kirk’s tragic death crystallized that resolve. It forced a hard look in the mirror, revealing how much I had coasted in both my spiritual and educational life. Coasting implies going downhill. You can’t coast uphill.

Last night, my wife and I re-engaged. We enrolled in Hillsdale College’s free online courses, inspired by the fact that Charlie had done the same. He had quietly completed around 30 courses before I even knew, mastering the classics, civics, and the foundations of liberty. Watching his relentless pursuit of knowledge reminded me that growth never stops, no matter your age.

The path forward must be reclaiming education, agency, and the power to shape our minds and futures.

This lesson is particularly urgent for two groups: young adults stepping into the world and those who may have settled into complacency. Learning is life. Stop learning, and you start dying. To young adults, especially, the college promise has become a trap. Twelve years of K-12 education now leave graduates unprepared for life. Only 35% of seniors are proficient in reading, and just 22% in math. They are asked to bet $100,000 or more for four years of college that will often leave them underemployed and deeply indebted.

Degrees in many “new” fields now carry negative returns. Parents who have already sacrificed for public education find themselves on the hook again, paying for a system that often fails to deliver.

This is one of the reasons why Charlie often described college as a “scam.” Debt accumulates, wages are not what students were promised, doors remain closed, and many are tempted to throw more time and money after a system that won’t yield results. Graduate school, in many cases, compounds the problem. The education system has become a factory of despair, teaching cynicism rather than knowledge and virtue.

Reclaiming educational agency

Yet the solution is not radical revolt against education — it is empowerment to reclaim agency over one’s education. Independent learning, self-guided study, and disciplined curiosity are the modern “Napster moment.” Just as Napster broke the old record industry by digitizing music, the internet has placed knowledge directly in the hands of the individual. Artists like Taylor Swift now thrive outside traditional gatekeepers. Likewise, students and lifelong learners can reclaim intellectual freedom outside of the ivory towers.

Each individual possesses the ability to think, create, and act. This is the power God grants to every human being. Knowledge, faith, and personal responsibility are inseparable. Learning is not a commodity to buy with tuition; it is a birthright to claim with effort.

David Butow / Contributor | Getty Images

Charlie Kirk’s life reminds us that self-education is an act of defiance and empowerment. In his pursuit of knowledge, in his engagement with civics and philosophy, he exemplified the principle that liberty depends on informed, capable citizens. We honor him best by taking up that mantle — by learning relentlessly, thinking critically, and refusing to surrender our minds to a system that profits from ignorance.

The path forward must be reclaiming education, agency, and the power to shape our minds and futures. Every day, seek to grow, create, and act. Charlie showed the way. It is now our responsibility to follow.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Glenn Beck joins TPUSA tour to honor Charlie Kirk

Joe Raedle / Staff | Getty Images

If they thought the murder of Charlie Kirk would scare us into silence, they were wrong!

If anything, Turning Point will hit the road louder than ever. On Monday, September 22, less than two weeks after the assassination, Charlie's friends united under the Turning Point USA banner to carry his torch and honor his legacy by doing what he did best: bringing honest and truthful debate to Universities across the nation.

Naturally, Glenn has rallied to the cause and has accepted an invitation to join the TPUSA tour at the University of North Dakota on October 9th.

Want to join Glenn at the University of North Dakota to honor Charlie Kirk and keep his mission alive? Click HERE to sign up or find more information.

Glenn's daughter honors Charlie Kirk with emotional tribute song

MELISSA MAJCHRZAK / Contributor | Getty Images

On September 17th, Glenn commemorated his late friend Charlie Kirk by hosting The Charlie Kirk Show Podcast, where he celebrated and remembered the life of a remarkable young man.

During the broadcast, Glenn shared an emotional new song performed by his daughter, Cheyenne, who was standing only feet away from Charlie when he was assassinated. The song, titled "We Are One," has been dedicated to Charlie Kirk as a tribute and was written and co-performed by David Osmond, son of Alan Osmond, founding member of The Osmonds.

Glenn first asked David Osmond to write "We Are One" in 2018, as he predicted that dark days were on the horizon, but he never imagined that it would be sung by his daughter in honor of Charlie Kirk. The Lord works in mysterious ways; could there have been a more fitting song to honor such a brave man?

"We Are One" is available for download or listening on Spotify HERE