Saudi Arabia just made Sophia the Robot a Citizen

You may recognize Sophia the robot after she went viral after being featured and interviewed on CNBC, Good Morning Britain, and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. But now, she may possibly be able to pay taxes, own a home, or have a stable job in Saudi Arabia.

How? Saudi Arabia just granted Sophia citizenship.

The robot, created by Hanson Robotics, somehow managed to accomplish this despite the country’s well-known, very specific, and difficult citizenship laws.

Travel blog Just Landed, notes that as a foreigner, it'd very difficult been deemed very hard to get citizenship from Saudi Arabia.

“Your only route to becoming a naturalized citizen is by marriage to a national; even this, however, doesn’t guarantee citizenship, particularly for non-Muslims. In exceptional circumstances only, the King might grant citizenship to a foreigner who has provided outstanding service to the state over a number of years,” a blog writer wrote.

The country granted her citizenship ahead of the Future Investment Initiative, held in the kingdom's capital city of Riyadh on Wednesday.

"I am very honored and proud of this unique distinction," Sophia told the audience while speaking on the panel. "This is historical to be the first robot in the world to be recognized with a citizenship."

According to Business Insider, the country has yet to elaborate on the details of the citizenship.

Creator David Hanson believes that Sophia and her future fellow robots will have the potential to help seniors in elderly care facilities and assist visitors at parks and events.

This is very different from what was documented in March of 2016, when Sophia's creator asked the robot during a live demonstration at the SXSW festival, "Do you want to destroy humans?...Please say 'no." To which, with a blank expression, Sophia responded, "OK. I will destroy humans."

Thankfully, Sophia seems to want to do good for the world. She told a journalist while on the panel that she wants to help humans "live a better life," and that "I will do much [sic] best to make the world a better place."

What can a robot do as a citizen? We’ll have to wait to see what happens next.