Sara Elghobashy
November 16, 2009
Ibn Sina, or Avicenna as he is popularly known, was one of the greatest Muslim philosophers to ever live, but philosopher wasn’t his only title. The man wore many turbans: physician, astronomer, mathematician, chemist, physicist, poet and psychologist. Not to mention, that some consider him the “father of geology.” This is precisely why a UAE lab decided to honor him by naming their first Arabic-speaking conversational humanoid robot after him - a robot designed to be used as a receptionist, sales clerk or shopping assistant.
But, I guess the lab decided that Ibn Sina was missing a few key titles from his legacy. I mean, all the great scientists I know were obsessed with shopping, but never had the time to share that passion for fashion with the world. It’s almost like robot Ibn Sina is fulfilling a dream that the real Ibn Sina never accomplished. *Tear drop*
Furthermore, I’m assuming robot Ibn Sina will be just as brilliant as the person he is modeled after so you know what that means: you’ll never get the wrong answer when asking things like, “Do you have my size in these shoes?” or “Can you please get me this dress in a medium?” And if you’re ever lucky enough to have Ibn Sina as your receptionist, your meeting notes will be transcribed perfectly and the office will never run out of paper clips. If only every office or store would be so lucky.
Seriously though, I question some of the decisions made about this robot, besides the name. I mean, I’m sure Ibn Sina is turning over in his grave right now.
All those years spent contributing great things to science and society, only to be turned into a shopping assistant. But more importantly, robots that look like humans? Creepy. Speaking in classical Arabic? Hard to comprehend for some Arabs. And the facial expressions? Sca-ry. Check out the YouTube video above for all of this in action.
Regardless, robot Ibn Sina has already been tested in one of his new roles as a mall assistant and the lab says they are in the process of programming him to do more. And who knows, maybe in a few years, we’ll honor the man that spearheaded this project, Nikolaos Mavridis, by building a robot in his honor - one that fetches your coffee and folds your clothes.
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