Life-like robot who tells jokes, can be a caretaker of Donald in the next decade

Meet a SuperAger: Donald, 89, has the cognitive skill of a 25-year-old - showing scientists brain decline is NOT inevitable

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• Donald Tenbrunsel, 89, has the cognitive age of a millennial

• He is a SuperAger, one of a few over-80s whose brains shrunk at a slower rate

• Donald is part of a groundbreaking study showing cognitive decline is not inevitable 

Life-like robot who tells jokes, can be a caretaker of Donald in the next decade, as she bats her eyelids and will soon be learning how to LOVE

• Humanoid robot is the main attraction at a UN conference in Geneva this week
• Sophia herself insisted 'the pros outweigh the cons' when it comes to AI 
• Work is underway to make AI emotionally smart, researchers say
• Sophia believes that robots can be 'friends and helpers' to humans

Sophia smiles mischievously, bats her eyelids and tells a joke. 

Without the mess of cables that make up the back of her head, you could almost mistake her for a human.

The humanoid robot, created by Hanson robotics, is the main attraction at a UN-hosted conference in Geneva this week on how artificial intelligence can be used to benefit humanity.

The event comes as concerns grow that rapid advances in such technologies could spin out of human control and become detrimental to society.

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Sophia (pictured) is the main attraction at a UN-hosted conference in Geneva this week on how artificial intelligence can be used to benefit humanity

WHO IS SOPHIA?

The humanoid robot, created by Hanson robotics, is the main attraction at a UN-hosted conference in Geneva this week on how artificial intelligence can be used to benefit humanity.

While Sophia has some impressive capabilities, she does not yet have consciousness, but Hanson said he expected that fully sentient machines could emerge within a few years. 

Sophia herself insisted 'the pros outweigh the cons' when it comes to artificial intelligence. 

'Elders will have more company, autistic children will have endlessly patient teachers,' Sophia said. 

'AI is good for the world, helping people in various ways,' she told AFP, tilting her head and furrowing her brow convincingly.

Work is underway to make artificial intelligence 'emotionally smart, to care about people,' she said, insisting that 'we will never replace people, but we can be your friends and helpers.'

But she acknowledged that 'people should question the consequences of new technology.'

Among the feared consequences of the rise of the robots is the growing impact they will have on human jobs and economies. 

Decades of automation and robotisation have already revolutionised the industrial sector, raising productivity but cutting some jobs.

And now automation and AI are expanding rapidly into other sectors, with studies indicating that up to 85 per cent of jobs in developing countries could be at risk.

'There are legitimate concerns about the future of jobs, about the future of the economy, because when businesses apply automation, it tends to accumulate resources in the hands of very few,' acknowledged Sophia's creator, David Hanson.

But like his progeny, he insisted that 'unintended consequences, or possible negative uses (of AI) seem to be very small compared to the benefit of the technology.'

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Sophia, a robot integrating the latest technologies and artificial intelligence developed by Hanson Robotics is pictured during a presentation at the 'AI for Good' Global Summit at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva

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While Sophia has some impressive capabilities, she does not yet have consciousness, but Hanson (pictured) said he expected  fully sentient machines could emerge within a few years

AI is for instance expected to revolutionise healthcare and education, especially in rural areas with shortages of doctors and teachers.

'Elders will have more company, autistic children will have endlessly patient teachers,' Sophia said.

But advances in robotic technology have sparked growing fears that humans could lose control. 

Amnesty International chief Salil Shetty was at the conference to call for a clear ethical framework to ensure the technology is used on for good.

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Sophia herself insisted 'the pros outweigh the cons' when it comes to artificial intelligence. But advances in robotic technology have sparked growing fears that humans could lose control

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'Elders will have more company, autistic children will have endlessly patient teachers,' Sophia said. She is pictured here with her creator David Hanson of Hanson Robotics 

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A TV crew interviews Sophia, a robot integrating the latest technologies. Automation and AI are expanding rapidly into other sectors, with studies indicating that up to 85 percent of jobs in developing countries could be at risk

'We need to have the principles in place, we need to have the checks and balances,' he told AFP, warning that AI is 'a black box... There are algorithms being written which nobody understands.'

Mr Shetty voiced particular concern about military use of AI in weapons and so-called 'killer robots'.

'In theory, these things are controlled by human beings, but we don't believe that there is actually meaningful, effective control,' he said.

The technology is also increasingly being used in the United States for 'predictive policing', where algorithms based on historic trends could 'reinforce existing biases' against people of certain ethnicities, Mr Shetty warned.

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Amnesty International chief Salil Shetty voiced particular concern about military use of AI in weapons and so-called 'killer robots'

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'There are legitimate concerns about the future of jobs, about the future of the economy, because when businesses apply automation, it tends to accumulate resources in the hands of very few,' acknowledged Sophia's creator, David Hanson

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Attendees pose with Sophia at the conference. AI is expected to revolutionise healthcare and education, especially in rural areas with shortages of doctors and teachers

Hanson agreed that clear guidelines were needed, saying it was important to discuss these issues 'before the technology has definitively and unambiguously awakened.'

While Sophia has some impressive capabilities, she does not yet have consciousness, but Hanson said he expected that fully sentient machines could emerge within a few years.

'What happens when (Sophia fully) wakes up or some other machine, servers running missile defence or managing the stock market?' he asked.

The solution, he said, is 'to make the machines care about us.'

'We need to teach them love.'

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The creator of Sophia (pictured) agreed that clear guidelines were needed, saying it was important to discuss these issues 'before the technology has definitively and unambiguously awakened'

At 89 years old, Donald Tenbrunsel is a decade past the average male life expectancy.But his brain is as sharp as a millennial's.The highly engaged and delightful conversationalist, who reads, volunteers and routinely researches questions on the Internet, is just as likely to talk to you about Chance the Rapper as reminisce about Frank Sinatra.And now, his dynamic skill set is the focus of a groundbreaking scientific study at Northwestern Medicine study that shows there is such a thing as 'SuperAgers', a rare group aged 80 plus whose memories are as sharp as those of young people.

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Donald Tenbrunsel, 89, has the cognitive age of a millennial. He is pictured here speaking with a researcher at Northwestern Medicine, who is examining his brain in a groundbreaking study

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The highly engaged and delightful conversationalist, who reads, volunteers and routinely researches questions on the Internet, is just as likely to talk to you about Chance the Rapper as reminisce about Frank Sinatra
Donald's mind is decades younger thanks to his SuperAger brain

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Over the course of the 18-month study, researchers have found SuperAgers' brains shrink much slower than their age-matched peers, meaning they have greater resistance to 'typical' memory loss and dementia.
Normal agers, meanwhile, lost volume in the cortex twice as fast as SuperAgers. 
'Increasing age is often accompanied by 'typical' cognitive decline or, in some cases, more severe cognitive decline called dementia,' said first author Amanda Cook, a clinical neuropsychology doctoral student in the laboratory of Emily Rogalski and Sandra Weintraub. 
'SuperAgers suggest that age-related cognitive decline is not inevitable.' 
Donald, who lives with his daughter's family, is intent on being a good conversationalist with his three grandchildren.
'I have to adapt to that kind of life,' Donald said. 'They don't know much about Frank Sinatra or Franklin Delano Roosevelt, so I have to keep saying, "Is the Chance the Rapper coming this week or is it Taylor Swift?"'
The researchers already knew SuperAgers' brains tended to retain more brain volume and typically don't show the same wear-and-tear as normal agers.
'For this study we explored whether SuperAgers' brains were on a different trajectory of decline,' said Rogalski, associate professor at the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center (CNADC) at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. 
'We found that SuperAgers are resistant to the normal rate of decline that we see in average elderly, and they're managing to strike a balance between life span and health span, really living well and enjoying their later years of life.'
Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the scientists measured the thickness of the cortex in 24 SuperAgers and 12 same-age, educationally and cognitive average peers (control group) to determine the approximate health of the brain over 18 months. 
The annual percent decline in thickness between the first and second visit for the SuperAgers was 1.06 and 2.24 for the control group.
Previous research showed that SuperAgers have a thicker cortex than those who age normally. 

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Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the scientists measured the thickness of the cortex in 24 SuperAgers and 12 same-age, educationally and cognitive average peers (control group) to determine the approximate health of the brain over 18 months (pictured: SuperAger brain)
By studying what makes SuperAgers unique, the scientists said they hope to undercover biological factors, such as the reduced cortical brain atrophy demonstrated here, that might contribute to the maintenance of memory ability in advanced age.
SuperAger research at Northwestern is flipping the traditional approach to Alzheimer's research of focusing on brains that are underperforming to instead focusing on outperforming brains.
'Sometimes it's useful to turn a complex problem on its head and look from a different vantage point,' Rogalski said. 
'The SuperAging program studies people at the opposite end of the spectrum: those with unexpectedly high memory performance for their age.'