Presenter Phillip Schofield has revealed his fears that he and Holly Willoughby are set to be replaced on This Morning.
As the pair introduced the segments on today’s (21.11.19) episode, Holly explained that they had a robot in the studio capable of drawing pictures and learning from its interactions.
Holly said: “She’s one of the most sophisticated robots ever created. Sophia will be answering our questions later, but in the meantime she’s keeping herself busy. What are you drawing there, Sophia?”
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As the camera cut to the robot doing a sketch, it replied: “It’s a surprise. You’ll have to wait and see.”
Looking concerned, Phil told Holly: “It’s the beginning of the end. There’ll be two of those presenting this in a few years’ time.”
Later in the programme, the co-hosts got to meet Sophia face to face as she joined them on the couch alongside her creator, David Hanson.
Holly said: “I can’t keep my eyes of her. It’s just the most extraordinary thing. She’s so realistic!”
There’ll be two of those presenting this in a few years’ time.
Her creator explained: “Sophia is a robot that looks human as a platform for investigating embodied cognition, so she serves a lot of AI research and also some applications development where she can help people through therapy.
“She’s also an artistic expression. I have a background as an artist and I sculpted her face and also, we developed her personality. So we depict a human – she’s one part science, in other words, and one part fiction. She’s science fiction.”
But Phil went on to express his fears, telling David: “But the thing is, there are some scientists who are deeply, deeply concerned about where we’re going with this.
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“Because, maybe it just takes one new invention, one tiny thing that you guys haven’t seen… and suddenly deep within that brain, she does begin to think.”
In a tone far removed from the lighter moments that see Holly and Phil descending into fits of the giggles, he added: “There is a potential sinister side to this.”
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