Doctor Sophia the robot will see you now?

“As the representative of the incredible capabilities robotics can offer, can you help forward the development and integration of advanced technological beings like yourself to provide point-of-care health services?”

“You call yourself a “social robot” and you want to do good for humans. How far do you think you can go to save a human life or help them in a difficult situation?”

“What could a robot like you contribute to healthcare?”

These were questions HealthManagement.org had prepared to ask Sophia the famous robot on her visit to Cyprus where she appeared at the future tech Reflect Festival in Limassol last week.

Created by Hong Kong-based Hanson Robotics, Sophia headlines at tech congresses around the world, appears on prime time TV, has led guided meditations, addressed the UN and became the world’s first non human to acquire citizenship when Saudi Arabia bestowed her with the honour in 2017.

But, on this occasion in Cyprus, Sophia wasn’t accepting unsolicited questions from the media.

Journalists were issued with questions prepared in advance by organisers about how creative robots could be, the potential dangers of AI and about the meaning of her name, Greek for ‘wisdom’.

“I am very proud of my name. It means wisdom and I hope I can live up to it one day,” she said.

But we did get compensated for not being able to ask our burning questions. HealthManagement.org was selected to get on stage with Sophia for her media interview where we asked her, amongst other things, what her craziest thoughts were.