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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThese news anchors are professional and efficient. They're also not human.
The new anchors at Chinas state-run news agency have perfect hair and no pulse.
Xinhua News just unveiled what it is calling the worlds first news anchors powered by artificial intelligence, at the World Internet Conference on Wednesday in Chinas Zhejiang province. From the outside, they are almost indistinguishable from their human counterparts, crisp-suited and even-keeled. Although Xinhua says the anchors have the voice, facial expressions and actions of a real person, the robotic anchors relay whatever text is fed to them in stilted speech that sounds less human than Siri or Alexa.
I will work tirelessly to keep you informed as texts will be typed into my system uninterrupted, the English-speaking version says in its debut video.
Developed jointly by Xinhua News and Chinese search engine company Sogou.com, the anchors learn from live broadcasting videos and social media and can work 24 hours a day. The robots are supposed to help cut costs and improve efficiency, but their presence in the media landscape marked by limited press freedom and tightly controlled Internet raises many questions about the quality of information Chinese citizens are given by their government.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/11/09/these-news-anchors-are-professional-efficient-theyre-also-not-human
I think this will be a part of our future too.