Sofia’s Smart Venue Choice

You may think the University of New South Wales (UNSW) campus would be an unlikely venue for a celebrity press junket. But for Sophia, an artificially intelligent human-like robot, UNSW 1 O’Connell Street CBD Campus was the smart venue choice.

Sofia is the world’s only robot that can exhibit human-like emotions and expressions. She is the figurehead for SingularityNET, an open marketplace designed to foster collaboration between AI developers who want to make -robots and other technologies.

During her whirlwind Australia wide tour to promote SingularityNET, Sofia invited the top 60 media and IT companies from across Australia to an exclusive launch event held at the UNSW 1 O’Connell Street CBD Campus.

The morning sessions involved interview style discussions with the media and Sofia. This required a room in a quiet area with an informal atmosphere, so the UNSW Venues and Events (V&E) team selected a conference room away from the main through fair and re-styled the room with a mix of modern lounge furniture and accessories not usually used in the space.

In interview with The Australian Technology reporter Chris Griffith, when asked about her travel in Australia Sophia said it was mostly confined to an airport and conference room and that sadly she didn’t know what Vegemite was. Few robots do.

Sofia and her minder watched the V&E team reconfigure the conference room into theatre style set up for the afternoon presentation style sessions. Meanwhile guests enjoyed a private networking lunch in the contemporary dining area to discuss the rise of artificial intelligence and its’ place in Australia and the world.

Given the priceless value of Sofia, and the number high profile guests, security was utmost importance. The V&E team co-ordinated security requirements for the event with the 1 O’Connell Street building security team. The on-site technician ensured all AV requirements were in place and pre-tested, as access to the room was restricted once sessions commenced.

At this exclusive event Sofia’s maker Dr. Ben Goertzel, chief scientist at Hong Kong-based Hanson ¬Robotics unveiled possible world changing plans to share -Sophia’s intelligence with the new SingularityNET marketplace, creating a more democratic platform for A1 development to prevent future monopolisation by big firm’s such as IBM, Google and Amazon.

Host your next event with UNSW Venues and Events call: 02 9385 1515 or visit: venuesandevents.unsw.edu.au