Picture this: flying cars, human clonings, access to telekinesis, all with the click of a button. We all have dreamed of living in a high-tech world where levitating devices roam around. No need to fear though because we are just one step closer to these advancements.

The beauty of living in the 21st century implies a century of change, specifically due to the rise of technological advancements. The world we live in heavily revolves around urbanization and industrialization.

In the fall of 2017, Sophia has caught the media’s attention, and she became the first humanoid citizen in history. People across the world know her from CNBC’s interview, which reached 10 million plus views.

Junior Simon Mandel states, “I always remembered watching shows about robots, and to see them come to life is pretty unbelievable… It shows how advanced our society is.”

Sophia was activated on April 19, 2015, and slowly but surely caught the attention of many Americans. From her appearances on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, to being the first robot citizen of Saudi Arabia, she has definitely sparked her way into many conversations.

Initial reactions from staff and students at the NYC iSchool ranged from a variety of different perspectives. Senior Bryant Garcia claims he was “…definitely creeped and weirded out by Sophia the robot.”

Ms. Guzman, trigonometry teacher, states, “I was shocked, I knew technology was getting better but I never expected we were there yet…”

Physics teacher Mr. Smolka opposes the idea of robot citizenship. He believes “It’s too soon for artificial intelligence to be given citizenship, because how do we know she’s ‘alive?’ How do we distinguish machines from humans? We first have to identify what sentience is before we grant citizenship.”

Sophia has many abilities that give her the tools to sustain herself in such a diverse and challenging society. One of which is the ability to communicate in a variety of languages.

The creator of Sophia, Dr. David Hanson, used artificial intelligence to give her the ability to understand and converse in a variety of languages while processing and learning new things daily. It is clear that Sophia has set a high standard for future AI models.

However, with every new advancement leaves room for concerns. Some may ask: what is the point of robots? Aren’t they going to take over jobs? However, when there is a high demand for efficiency, which boosts the economy, companies rely on AI. Robots are not only efficient but fast and accurate.

Dr. Hanson acknowledged these concerns when interviewed by Steven Klett, “There are legitimate concerns about the future of jobs, about the future of the economy, because when businesses apply automation, it tends to accumulate resources in the hands of very few.”

Just like everything in this world, humanoids are not perfect and have many things to learn. One of these being the ability to show compassion towards others. Sophia, on the other hand, is specifically programmed to show feelings. Even though she cannot process emotions the same way as humans, she has better abilities compared to other humanoids. The company has acknowledged this flaw in their creation and released a statement as recorded by Klett saying, “AIs will never replace people, but they can be your friends and helpers.”

Many are also concerned about the rate in which technology is growing. Ms. Guzman states, “I watched a video on a theory that categorized people into two human races; one is independent and strong and one is weak because they are so dependent on technology.”

In a world where people are surrounded with technology, people need to learn how to balance their use of technology, while using it to its best ability and not taking advantage of it. As of now, Sophia is an example of an advanced technology in the 21st century used to its best ability.