The Chinese government recently announced a significant technological breakthrough in the area of artificial intelligence (IA): a virtual news anchor. This “virtual robot” has the ability to present news 24 hours a day, answering questions and transmitting information with the skill of more than a thousand newscasters.
However, as the presenter was created by the government, she follows the line of the Chinese Communist Party, presenting only the news that interests the party and censoring those that do not align with its interests. This mechanism allows the Chinese government to control the information that reaches the population, shaping public perception and maintaining control over the flow of information.
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China creates AI robot with news anchor functions
The new technology was named after Ren Xiaorong, a journalist robot with the appearance of a human woman. It reports and answers questions 24 hours a day on the official Chinese Party channel, but following the government's bias. The technology has entered the newscasts of the “People’s Daily” application, which is administered by the Government itself, which allows directing the content according to the Party’s wishes.
In its first transmission, the robot said “Hello, my name is Ren Xiaorong. I'm an artificial intelligence digital anchor who just joined the People's Daily”, according to the “Sun” portal. She goes on to say, “Thousands of news anchors have passed on their professional skills to me. For 365 days, I will be reporting news, 24 hours a day, without rest.”
AI Expansion
AI is increasingly occupying space in our society, in various fields. The most recent novelty is the journalist robots, which arrive to work tirelessly 24 hours a day, being able to replace people at any time of the day. With this novelty, journalism tends to become automated and little by little more instantaneous, with the flow of news becoming faster and faster.
Although it seems impressive, this novelty brings up the problem of replacing humans with machines. Gradually, artificial intelligence assumes occupations in the modern world, which worries many people, who have their professions threatened by technology.