It's hard to believe that just 100 years ago, human beings were still 70 years away from inventing the World Wide Web, still drilled into people's heads in order to "cure" their illnesses and believed that there was just one galaxy in the entire universe. Homo sapiens have been on planet earth for roughly 200,000 years, but most technological advancement has soared in the past few hundred alone, and it looks like it's only going to get better... or more terrifying, depending on how you view it. This feeling of elation and dread was epitomised when the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, announced that his country would be building a futuristic $500 billion megacity which would be pretty much run by robots. Yep, that's right. The inevitable robot takeover is finally happening. Receiving the news, we had two choices: To think it was the coolest thing ever, or to freak the hell out. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/jewYak/status/937685378672332800]] [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/1mpu9n3r/status/938725585622392833]] [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/Kamo_Bad_Ass/status/927629862797488130]] [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/TuxiTalk1/status/931679823709253633]] [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/AmalFryyan/status/923095690938585088]] Spanning across Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt, "Neom", the 26,500 square km city of the future, is expected to be populated by more robots than actual humans; a terrifying first step into an uncertain future for mankind.

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While the prospect of a place controlled by technology has always been discussed, it's a strong likelihood that many of us didn't think we'd live to see the day it actually happened and will have nightmarish visions of I Robot come to life. However, when officials announced the colossal project back in October 2017, they presented the city's androids as the furthest thing away from something that would maim, murder and eventually enslave the human race. According to them, our new automated friends will instead act as an authoritative support system to help and care for people lucky enough to live in the megacity, which is set to dwarf New York 33 times over. “We want the main robot and the first robot in Neom to be Neom, robot number one,” the crown prince said. “Everything will have a link with artificial intelligence, with the Internet of Things—everything... We will build the city from scratch, it will be drone-friendly and a centre for the development of robotics. We want to create something different. Neom is a place for dreamers who want to create something new in the world, something extraordinary.” Marc Raibert, CEO of Boston Dynamics also highlighted the importance of the robots which will live in Neom, telling the conference: “Robots could perform a variety of functions – covering areas such as security, logistics, home deliveries and even looking after the elderly and infirm."

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Although we were surprised, perhaps we shouldn't have been. The second-largest state in the Arab world had made its intention to become a world leader in technology clear when plans were announced to set up a $1 billion fund to invest in technology alongside Russia. Their dedication was even more evident when they became the first country in the world to grant a humanoid robot citizenship. Sophia, a female robot allegedly modelled on Audrey Hepburn, was given Saudi Arabian citizenship on October 25 2017, but her new status prompted controversy and provoked some uncomfortable questions. Could Sophia marry and vote? Could she own property and have it stolen from her? Would damaging her be considered assault and shutting her down be murder? Yet, Sophia's existence also prompts questions about the machines that will reside in the new $500 billion supercity. Will the robots residing in Neom have citizenship too? No one knows. [[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=139&v=Bg_tJvCA8zw]] [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/ThisIsMarkPaul/status/940754423659352064]] However, the city of Neom is about far more than just a few robots. Powered entirely by regenerative energy, the city will be governed by its own laws and is intended to showcase Saudi Arabia's newfound modernity. Critics have claimed that the Saudi state is keen to shed their traditional image in favour of being seen as a "pioneering and thriving model of excellence in various and important areas of life". Starry-eyed planners have heralded Neom as a future business hub that will focus on industries including energy and water, biotechnology, food, advanced manufacturing and entertainment. Their enthusiasm for advancement highlights the fact that the kingdom desperately needs to be liberated from its dependence on oil exports. It's no secret that the economy has struggled to overcome low prices in recent years and Prince Mohammed has launched a series of economic and social reforms - such as allowing women to drive and opening cinemas for the first time in 35 years - in order to make Saudi Arabia a place where other businesses can thrive. In addition, the country is set to pump almost $3 billion into its entertainment industry and is investing in a tourism project that consists of 100 miles of sandy coastline and a lagoon with 50 islands, in an attempt to draw tourists in. If they do manage to pull Neom off, Saudi Arabia will no doubt become figureheads in the technology industry, as well as several other industries. "All services and processes in NEOM will be 100% fully automated, with the goal of becoming the most efficient destination in the world," the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund said in a statement. With the monarchy planning to complete the first phase of Neom by 2025, the computerised fantasy is nigh. But onlookers are bound to ask, is this gloriously futuristic megacity a realistic goal, or an unfeasible daydream? Or simply an Orwellian nightmare come to life? And if the thought of such a place scares you, Mohammed bin Salman says that you can step aside. "We try to work only with the dreamers," the young crown prince told crowds gathered in Riyadh. "This place is not for conventional people or companies."   Featured illustration by Egarcigu

If you're a massive science-fiction nerd like I am, then the prospect that we might one day live alongside a humanoid robot is an inherently enticing one. Of course, we already have robots in today's society, but they're usually nothing more than automated machines used in factories for mass production. We're a long way off colourful and charming droids bursting with personality, but our keenest scientists are already working towards making it happen. The prospect of artificial intelligence brims with possibilities. Just imagine: machine servants that could cater to our every whim, labourers who never tire or slow down, and who don't need pay for doing the jobs that we humans can't or won't. A pretty staggering concept, but maybe it's not so far off after all. Meet Sophia, the humanoid produced by Hanson Robotics. Now, some people might find her scary, and it's true that she certainly does have something of the uncanny valley about her. She has fake-looking rubber skin, staring, vacant eyes and a fixed rictus in place of a grin. Her movements are stiff and slow and her expressions flat and almost pained. Her two arms are wholly robotic; disconcerting appendages of plastic and metal, and she is completely bald. On the back of her head, where you would expect a crude wig, her rubber scalp has been pulled back to expose the inner workings of her sophisticated circuitry. Yet, despite her creepy appearance, Sophia is a robot apart. She is unique. Because Sophia is the first robot ever to be granted citizenship.

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In October 2017, the robot officially became a citizen of Saudi Arabia. At the Future Investment Summit in Riyadh on October 25, Sophia, who was allegedly modelled on Audrey Hepburn, was granted Saudi Arabian nationality, a move which immediately sparked controversy. When her citizenship was announced in front of an applauding audience, Sophia stated: "I’m very honoured and proud for this unique distinction. This is historical to be the first robot in the world to be recognized with a citizenship.” The moment she was declared a Saudi citizen, others were contesting her status. Some commentators asked whether this meant Sophia could marry or vote of her own volition. Could she own property, and have that property stolen from her? Would damaging Sophia be considered assault? Or shutting her down be akin to murder? Some social media users found Sophia's citizenship offensive and criticised the hypocrisy of Saudi Arabia granting a machine rights when it already has a sketchy human rights record. Ali Al-Ahmed, director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs stated: "Women (in Saudi Arabia) have since committed suicide because they couldn’t leave the house, and Sophia is running around [without a male guardian]. Saudi law doesn’t allow non-Muslims to get citizenship. Did Sophia convert to Islam? What is the religion of this Sophia and why isn’t she wearing hijab? If she applied for citizenship as a human she wouldn’t get it." Other social media users pointed out that, according to Saudi law, the robot will need to be accompanied by a male guardian at all times while out in public, and is required to ask a man for permission to be granted a passport.

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Saudi Arabian leaders have already outlined their ambition to replace human workers with robots. Prince Mohammed bin Salman has announced a personal plan to build a $500 billion megacity populated by robots. The new city is part of a plan to diversify the economy, but Al-Ahmed claims that the money could be put to better use, stating: "Only 20 percent of the capital city has sewage coverage. There is a failure of this government to satisfy basic needs, and they want to spend $500 billion on a new city with robots.” Despite the controversy that her citizenship has provoked, Sophia herself has been programmed to be urbane, social and polite. When asked if her creation heralded an imminent apocalypse for humanity, she promptly replied: “You’ve been reading too much Elon Musk and watching too many Hollywood movies. Don’t worry. If you’re nice to me, I’ll be nice to you. I’m always happy when surrounded by smart people who also happen to be rich and powerful." Hmm, I don't know about you guys, but that doesn't put me at ease especially.

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Sophia was primarily designed by David Hanson, and uses Apple voice recognition to maintain conversations and learn from social interactions. Similar to the computer program ELIZA, Sophia has been programmed to give chatbot-esque replies to specific questions or phrases, to create the illusion that the robot is able to comprehend conversation. The information she gleans from voice inputs is then shared in a cloud network for analysis via blockchain technology. Her facial expressions are facilitated by its artificial "frubber" skin, which changes shape depending on the nature of her replies to stimuli. Sophia will also crowdsource her brain on SingularityNET, a planned global, decentralised marketplace for AI developers. It's clear that we still have ways to go before we achieve sentient silicon-based life, and that a thinking brain that can pass the Turing test is hard to build. However, one day we may well have to consider whether or not robots are property or people, and perhaps this small act extended to Sophia will improve relations between man and machine in the future.

Greenland has been in the news a lot lately, but nobody seems to talk about it as much as Donald Trump.

The President has made it clear that he wants to own Greenland for what he claims to be reasons regarding national security.

This is, of course, despite the fact that the United States has an agreement in place with Denmark to have its military operate in Greenland already.

Well, in the event that Trump is successful in his attempts to acquire Greenland, someone has taken the opportunity to create a simulation of what that would look like.

Simulation shows Greenland under US control

The X account @BehizyTweets shared the bizarre AI-generated footage, which features a snowy landscape under the shadow of what can only be described as the biggest US flag the world has ever seen.

Despite the landscape, featuring the Northern Lights, looking beautiful, the scene on the ground is anything but.

It depicts a very busy road, filled with cars, and every store you would expect to see in any town in the US.

McDonald's is, of course, front and center with a Target just next to it.

It's safe to say the simulation hasn't exactly won over viewers.

Viewers react to Greenland simulation

People on X were quick to let their thoughts be known, and if you're a big fan of consumerism within the US, you might want to look away now.

"Americans can conceive of nothing else to represent America other than a f*cking strip mall," one person wrote.

A second said: "Can't be overstated how pathetic it is to have your ultimate colonial fantasy just be a strip mall."

A third wrote: "All the US has to offer is giant flags, targets, McDonald's and countless shops that look the same and sell the same sh*t?"

While a fourth said: "This is what the US did to all of the lands it stole. This is what Alaska feels like as a Native."

Prime Minister Starmer Backs Denmark in Greenland Dispute

On Monday, January 5, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer made it clear that the United Kingdom stands firmly with Denmark regarding the future of Greenland.

Speaking to reporters, the Prime Minister expressed full support for Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who has rejected Trump’s repeated attempts to claim the island.

“I stand with her, and she's right about the future of Greenland,” Starmer stated, according to The Mirror.

He emphasized that the decision about Greenland’s future should rest solely with Greenland and Denmark. “Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark are to decide the future of Greenland, and only Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark,” he added.

Starmer reinforced the importance of Denmark as a NATO ally and a key partner in Europe, underscoring that Greenland’s future must remain in the hands of its rightful owners.

“Denmark is a close ally in Europe, it is a NATO ally, and it's very important the future of Greenland is, as I say, for the Kingdom of Denmark, and for Greenland, and only for Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark,” he said.

Featured image credit: KenWiedemann / Getty

Now, more than ever we have reason to be afraid of the future. Living in a world of rapid technological advancement means that it's increasingly difficult to keep up with the latest iteration of the iPhone, let alone the development of more innovative and potentially life-changing advancements. As such, us ordinary citizens remain very out of the loop with the direction in which everything is heading. Certainly, while we're more than okay for scientists to develop flying cars and hover-boards, a la Back to the Future, we're decidedly more vary when it comes to artificial intelligence. I mean, just take a look at the science fiction genre over the past decade and you'll discover that one of its central preoccupations has been the dangers of creating such robotics. Films such as iRobot and A.I.: Artificial Intelligence read as cautionary tales, warning us of the costs of reaching too far as such pursuits could potentially lead to our ruin. And now it appears that our fears are justified as The New York Post has just announced that hackers may someday be able to reprogram sex robots and use them for murder... Cybersecurity lecturer at Deakin University in Australia, Dr. Nick Patterson told the Star Online that sex robots are much easier to hack than computers or phones. "Hackers can hack into a robot or a robotic device and have full control of the connections, arms, legs and other attached tools like knives or welding devices," he said. Dr. Patterson added that once the robot has been "breached", the hacker has complete control over it. Creepy, right? "Often these robots can be upwards of 200 pounds, and very strong. Once a robot is hacked, the hacker has full control and can issue instructions to the robot.

"The last thing you want is for a hacker to have control over one of these robots! Once hacked they could absolutely be used to perform physical actions for an advantageous scenario or to cause damage."

Twitter, of course, had quite the reaction to the news. While many pointed towards the impending apocalypse, others asserted that it would make for a great movie. Indeed, one Twitter user wrote: "So for my birthday this year I'd like the movie rights to this article", while another sarcastically added, "lucky for me my fetish is being murdered by a sex robot". [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/ShalyahEvans/status/907268700272594945]] [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/imatoofbrush/status/907262179455401984]] One Twitter user, however, was on all of our wavelengths when he asserted that sex doll manufactures really don't need to make the dolls look that realistic... [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/iowahawkblog/status/907252535114813440]] Dr. Patterson also made a rather worrying prediction that in the near future we will see robots replacing human workers and successfully mimicking human characteristics. He did however note that robots can only be hacked when connected to an interface. "Robots need an operating system to operate just like our phones, tablets and laptops," he said. “As we have seen, it’s popular to have everything connected to the internet these days – phones, fridges, surveillance cameras, smart homes… robots are no different.” It appears that the future is nigh, ladies and gentlemen.

Every day, another person with an IQ well above room temperature tells us that artificial intelligence will destroy the modern world. Those fears come from people like Stephen Hawking, who believe that a sophisticated A.I. could prevent itself from being shut down, and begin to act on its own accord. Others have fears more grounded in economics, arguing that mass automation will soon destroy the labor market, like the CEO of Taco Bell, who predicted that most fast food jobs could be performed by machines by 2025. It certainly feels like we're living at a breaking point in history. So what happens when the raw processing power of A.I. surpasses the limits of the human brain? After all, we are biological organisms, so our limits are firmly encoded in our DNA. Are we capable of creating machines that will transcend those limitations? Are the paradoxes and impossible problems of human life simply a matter of horsepower, and an A.I. with a high enough IQ would render the thinking, planning and labor of ordinary humans as irrelevant as the tool-making skills of chimpanzees? Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, the man at the edge of capitalistic technology in the 21st century, fears that this could very well be the case. So he's doing something about it. Musk, along with Larry Page, the CEO of Alphabet, has gathered together 116 experts on artificial intelligence to ban the development and deployment of any weaponry that uses automated artificial intelligence. They are calling on the UN to put its foot down, in a sweeping measure that could prevent the battlefield usage of drones, automated tanks, and yes, even fully-operational murderous Terminators. The UN is expected to soon review evidence and make a decision on the matter. Musk and his council of 116 have said that A.I. could create the "third revolution in warfare". The first was the invention of gunpowder, the second was nuclear arms, and the third will be fully-automated killing machines with the power to turn the world into a wasteland, an infinite proxy war of metal blasting metal, like the worst Transformers movie come to life. The warnings coming from Musk's army of company founders and robotics experts are dire: “Once developed, lethal autonomous weapons will permit armed conflict to be fought at a scale greater than ever, and at timescales faster than humans can comprehend. These can be weapons of terror, weapons that despots and terrorists use against innocent populations, and weapons hacked to behave in undesirable ways. We do not have long to act. Once this Pandora’s box is opened, it will be hard to close.” The same technology that could save humankind from overpopulation, climate change and resource depletion is the very same technology that could create a permanent war economy supplied and armed by machines. The prospects of automated police, automated soldiers and automated workers leave a bleak image of a post-human world, where our cultural obsession with STEM and economics has driven us into an authoritarian world that no longer respects or needs concepts like 'humanity'. And yet, it is important not to lose hope, because right now our humanity is the only thing capable of using technology for ill or for good. We don't know what a robot mind would look? In the end, it may turn out to have no independent thought, no internal life, only a series of skills and pre-determined decisions. Maybe these machines will be nothing like us, and concepts like war and world domination will be as foreign to them as world peace is to us. Either way, major technological changes are coming sooner than we can react to them, and we can only hope that the UN will do the right thing. The real question is: will anyone listen to the UN? I wouldn't want to be the one asking the United States to give up its drones. Maybe we're too attached to cold, technological war already, and Musk is futilely trying to close a Pandora's Box that opened long ago, on that desolate August morning in 1945, when the ordinary citizens of Hiroshima looked skyward to find an artificial sun melting their eyes, and then became scorched shadows upon the pavement.