Less than a decade after introducing the world to the possibility of AI-powered news anchors, China’s state-run media outlet Xinhua has unveiled the world’s first bionic humanoid robots.
The two life-sized humanoid anchors, one male and one female, were seen taking the stage and addressing the gathering at the World Media Summit in Beijing, Thursday.
The robotic news anchors were developed jointly by Chinese Robotics manufacturer UBTECH Robotics and the Chinese news agency, with Xinhua holding the complete property rights, it claimed.
During a forum at the event, the female anchor, named Xinyan, standing tall on a platform, read the opening news after greeting onlookers with a “Hello. “
To make them resemble human news presenters, Chinese film director Zhang Yimou was brought on board to serve as the chief image designer and led the robot’s visual and physical design. His involvement helped tie the robot’s appearance to conventions across the broadcast journalism, a step further from making them just look human.
Beyond the physical appearance, Xinhua also equipped these anchors with a bank of the latest current affairs by connecting them with the agency’s AI-powered news platform and intelligent agent, Xinhua Yudian, which was launched in June earlier this year.
The claims were backed by UBTECH’s founder and chairman, Zhou Jian, who said the robot’s “brain–expression–control” system retrieves vetted, authoritative news in real time, helping prevent the misinformation and fabricated content that can result from generative AI hallucinations.
The robotics manufacturer handled the complete manufacturing process, providing the bionic skin — artificial skin designed to mimic the appearance, texture, and sometimes the functions of human skin.
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