by Andrew Cochran
A Chinese-made synthetic news anchor is ready to go to work for Russia. The Russian-speaking AI-enabled character, Lisa, was developed by Sogou, a Chinese search and IT company, with Xinhua TV, the state news agency for China, in cooperation with ITAR-TASS, the state news agency for Russia.
A news release by Xinhua says Lisa commemorates the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Russia.
Lisa is the fourth AI anchor made by Sogou for Xinhua. Like the others, Lisa is modelled after a real person. Lisa’s likeness is based on Elizaveta Zelenskaya, a member of the international relations department at TASS.
Sogou will be exporting another AI anchor, for Abu Dhabi Media. It also will be based on a human personality from that country.
Speaking with English translation, AI Lisa said, ‘I will be a tireless anchor reporting the news precisely.’
OUR TAKE
- While this looks to be about statecraft, it is another trajectory point for Sogou’s aspiration to deliver trustworthy AI figures.
- Other AI figures have been seen on Russian news. None have been reported in other jurisdictions, such as India or Western countries.
- This is Sogou’s fourth milestone in six months for AI anchors. The company appears to be moving quickly to entrench its first-mover advantage.
SEE RELATED ITEMS
- Sogou Launches World’s First Russian-Speaking AI News Anchor – News release by Sogou
- The Future of News: Artificial Intelligence – Video of session at News Agencies World Congress
- Artificial Sincerity, Too? – Our original story about AI news anchors
- UAE gets first Arab-speaking AI news anchor – Our story about an AI anchor for Abu Dhabi