‘Really scary’: China’s Xinhua unveils world’s first AI news anchor

The newest members of Xinhua’s newsroom are AI anchors who will report “tirelessly” all day every day, from anywhere in the country.

Chinese viewers were greeted with a digital version of a regular Xinhua news anchor named Qiu Hao. The anchor, wearing a red tie and pin-striped suit, nods his head in emphasis, blinking and raising his eyebrows slightly.

“Not only can I accompany you 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. I can be endlessly copied and present at different scenes to bring you the news,” he says.

Xinhua also presented an English-speaking AI, based on another presenter, who adds, “The development of the media industry calls for continuous innovation and deep integration with the international advanced technologies … I look forward to bringing you brand new news experiences.”

Xinhua in collaboration with search engine operator Sogou unveiled the new technology at the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, China. The AI anchors take the form and shape of a human being and read out news stories. They have minimal facial expressions and lip movements which look quite realistic.

The AI news anchor also collects data and learns to develop itself. “He learns from live broadcasting videos by himself and can read texts as naturally as a professional news anchor,” Xinhua reported.

Xinhua further says that the AI anchor has already become a member of the agency’s reporting team. He can work for 24 hours continuously on the news website as well as its social media platform. The AI anchor is said to “reduce news production costs and improve news efficiency”.

The AI anchor has also started presenting news reports. Since it’s an AI anchor, news is read out in a very monotonous manner with no expressions in between. The AI anchor himself acknowledges that the technology is still in development and that many improvements are required.

According to Xinhua, the AI technology is not limited to news presenting. The systems can be customised to different clients in other industries. Wang Xiaochuan, the head of Sogou, gave the example of a popular book reading app, Uncle Kai. “In the future, it could be your parents telling the story,” he said in an interview.

While China is home to some of the world’s largest tech companies and some 800 million internet users, its internet is one of the most controlled in the world. Observers say China is turning into a digital police state, with technology from iris and gait recognition being deployed to monitor activists, ethnic minorities in places like Xinjiang, and regular citizens.

For Xinhua’s already tightly-scripted and controlled state news presenters, the AI anchors take things a step further. Video of the Chinese anchor quickly spread on social media in China, with as many impressed as alarmed. According to the Guardian, viewers called it “A little bit horrible” and “Really scary.”

While praising the achievements, Xinhua and Sogou acknowledged its limits. “I, who was wholly cloned from a real-life host, have mastered broadcasting as well as the real host,” the AI anchor said. “As long as I am provided with text, I can speak as a news host.”