In an age where technology gets more advanced by the day, it’s only natural to see that artificial intelligence has now extended to the world of news-reading. However, the first wholly artificial newsreader appears to be just a little too lifelike.
As The Guardian reports, China’s official state-run news agency Xinhua, and Chinese search engine, Sogou, have unveiled AI news anchors who will be used to “tirelessly” report news around the clock.
The two new anchors – one speaking Chinese and one speaking English – were unveiled to the public at the World Internet Conference in China’s Zhejiang province this week.
According to reports, the anchors are based on real presenters, with the English newsreader modelled on Zhang Zhao, and the Chinese reporter based on Qiu Hao.
These new anchors are just part of China’s continued push to lead the world in artificial intelligence, though as the anchors themselves explain, they can only get better from here.
“I, who was wholly cloned from a real-life host, have mastered broadcasting as well as the real host,” the Chinese-speaking AI newsreader explained. “As long as I am provided with text, I can speak as a news host.”
While these new AI anchors definitely have the look of a human newsreader, their speaking style may take a little bit of getting used to. However, Xinhua asserts that the more broadcasts that the anchors deliver, the more realistic their actions and speech will become.
At this stage though, it looks just a little bit creepy.
Check out Xinhua’s first English AI anchor:
