In a first, this humanoid robot to address UK's Parliament as speaker in upcoming session

The parliament in the United Kingdom will get its first-ever robotic speaker in the upcoming session on October 11. Named Ai-Da, the robot will address the House of Lords at the Palace of Westminster to discuss if Artificial Intelligence (AI) poses any threats to the creative industry involving fashion, art and music. As per a Daily Mail report, the android will address members of the Communications and Digital Committee which include Baroness Gail Rebuck, Chair of Penguin Random House, and Lord Edward Vaizey, former MP and Culture Minister. 

The female bot has been invited to the UK parliament to reflect on the role of machine learning, machine creativity and AI which according to several experts might outshine humans. A recent research by New York University revealed that one-third of AI experts worldwide fear that robots would turn society dystopian, Daily Mail reported. 

(Ai-Da during a painting session; Image; ai-darobot.com)

Ai-Da was created in 2019 by the University of Oxford's Aidan Meller, a specialist in modern and contemporary art, and it was later taken over by the Cornwall-based Engineered Arts for further development. The soon-to-be humanoid robot speaker is named after the 19th Century mathematician Ada Lovelace.

More about the world's first robot artist

According to the Ai-Da Project, it is the world's first robot artist which can draw, paint and even do sculptures and write poems. Ai-Da has a camera fitted in its eye and uses AI algorithms to carry out human-like activities. Ever since its introduction in 2019 at a solo event at the University of Oxford, the robot has showcased its work internationally in several exhibitions.

(Sculpture by Ai-Da; Image: ai-darobot.com)

"Today, a dominant mindset is that of humanism, where art is an entirely human affair, stemming from human agency", said the Project's official website. "Ai-Da creates art because art no longer has to be restrained by the requirement of human agency alone". Some of its most notable works include a portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II which was named 'Algorithm Queen'.

The robot also once got trapped in a controversy after it landed in Egypt for Forever is Now 2021 art exhibition at the Great Pyramids of Giza. The Egyptian border guards detained Ai-Da and its artworks for ten days and sealed its eyes shut over suspicion of spy technology. 

(Ai-Da's eyes sealed by Egyptian authorities; Image: ai-darobot.com)