Hanson Robotics

Giulio di Sturco on Photographing Sophia the Robot

Originally published on canon-europe.com.

Photography:  Giulio di Sturco

Canon Europe  — In October 2017, Sophia made history as the first robot to be given citizenship of a country: Saudi Arabia. The firsts don’t stop there. Produced by Hanson Robotics and activated in April 2015, the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered humanoid robot has also been named as the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) first Innovation Champion – and has become something of a media darling. So far, she has featured on prime-time TV, appeared on the front cover of fashion magazines, and even been in music videos.

But it wasn’t the news hook or burgeoning celebrity status that intrigued Italian-born photojournalist and Canon Ambassador Giulio Di Sturco. “I was more interested in the place where Sophia was made. No-one has ever had access,” he says. “When I find a story, I try to find an angle that’s a bit more unknown. Nobody had seen the lab, and no-one was thinking about it. I wanted to see where Sophia was created and meet the people behind her, not just the final product.”

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