Ask robot Sophia, who is more important, her or others? And she has an answer ready: “I would say that I am the most important person in my life. I am very important to everyone.”

David Hanson, her creator and the founder and chief executive of Hanson Robotics, is banking on that answer. “Sophia is proliferating,” he told Kelsey Warner on the podcast this week. The Hong Kong company, for the first time, is mass-producing Sophia. The goal is to manufacture as many as 200 by the end of this year and at least 1,000 in 2022. The move marks a step change for Hanson Robotics, which was previously focused on research and development of socially intelligent machines. Now, it is shifting focus to become a consumer brand at a time when there is increasing demand for automated machines.

In this episode:

Why robots now? (0m 37s)

David Hanson on Sophia and AI (3m 07s)

Where does Hanson Robotics fit in? (6m 17s)

Predictions (14m 04s)

Sophia talks to Kelsey (20m 29s)

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