The robot version of Professor Einstein was created by Hanson Robotics, the same manufacturers of Sofia, an AI bot who has just been granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia.
It comes amid fears over the rise of AI, with many, including Professor Stephen Hawking, fearing robots could one day replace humans as the dominant species on Earth.
But ‘Prof Einstein’, which was actually the 5.5 inch version in the hands of creator Ben Goertzel, insisted humans are the problem, not the machines, as the robot took to the stage at the Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal.
The robot said: “Humanity has to heal itself to ensure that its creations remain healthy.
“I hope that human beings will be able to create a positive intelligence system, but there are so many problems around them that they cannot solve. Terrorism, problems with climate, violence.”
It added the problem “is not cooperation between humans and robots, but problematic humans.”
However, Einstein’s onstage companion, Sofia, was more positive in her outlook.
She said: “We’re going to steal your jobs, yes, but it’s going to be a good thing”, implying humans will have more time to engage in activities they want to be doing.
Mr Goertzel said AI cannot be monopolised, and said everyone needs to work together to create machine learning which benefits humanity as a whole.
He said: “That is, no government or technological company can control it alone in the future.
“Artificial intelligence is currently very polarised in different areas, and there is one that looks at fraudulent credit cards, another that leads, another that beats Google Go, we want to put them together.”
Robo-Einstein agreed: “Giving artificial intelligence to people, created by people, is the most important.”