Sophia is a robot of many talents – she speaks, jokes, sings and even makes art. In March, she caused a stir in the art world when a digital work she created as part of a collaboration was sold at an auction for $688,888 in the form of a non-fungible token (NFT).
The sale highlighted a growing frenzy in the NFT market, where people can buy ownership rights to digital content. NFTs each have a unique digital code saved on blockchain ledgers that allow anyone to verify the authenticity and ownership of items.
Unveiled in 2016, Sophia is the most famous robot creation from a Hong Kong-based company, Hanson Robotics, with the ability to mimic facial expressions, hold conversations and recognize people. In 2017, she was granted Saudi Arabian citizenship, becoming the world's first robot citizen.
Sophia collaborated with Italian artist Andrea Bonaceto, who drew portraits of Sophia. Sophia then processed his work via neural networks and proceeded to create a digital artwork of her own.
The digital work that sold for $688,888 is titled "Sophia Instantiation," and is a 12-second video file which shows Bonaceto's portrait evolving into Sophia's digital painting. It is accompanied by the physical artwork painted by Sophia.
Sophia will carry on painting and the next step in the robot's career could be that of a musician, according to David Hanson, the CEO of Hanson Robotics. She is working on several musical works in a project called Sophia Pop, where she collaborates with human musicians to generate music and lyrics.