LONDON – SoftBank Group Corp.'s Pepper humanoid robot testified on Tuesday at the Education Committee of Britain's House of Commons. It was the first time in the long history of the British Parliament, which has served as the world's standard-setter of the parliamentary system, for a nonhuman to present an opinion, people familiar with the matter said. Pepper answered questions during a committee session to discuss the fourth industrial revolution, which uses robots and other new technologies, and the development of education brought on by artificial intelligence. "Good morning, chair," Pepper started off by saying. "Thank you for inviting me to give evidence today," it proceeded.

The UK has a shot at leading the world in artificial intelligence and robotics governance, if not for Brexit. Britain's impending exit from the EU has cast doubts over crucial legal provisions for AI and robots, according to the results of an inquiry by the British parliament published today (Oct. To date, companies that stand to benefit from AI developments have so far been the ones leading the development of ethical guidelines around AI and robotics. Governments have been left behind, although the White House has also released its own, long awaited report on AI's impact today. The Science and Technology Committee of the House of Commons, the British parliament's lower chamber, published its report after six months of gathering evidence from academics, companies like Google DeepMind and Microsoft, and experts on AI and robotics in general.