There are those who believe that China is the most technologically advanced nation in
the world, and they might not be wrong.
In terms of AI research, China and the United States were far apart some twenty years ago.
While both public and commercial research efforts were steadily increasing in the United
States, China was still engaged in low-value-added manufacturing sectors.
But things have changed now, and China has accelerated to quickly catch up in the ensuing
years.
And now, China is currently developing a humanoid robot that will be capable of performing a
range of menial tasks in Chinese restaurants, nursing homes, hospitals and households.
What does this humanoid robot look like?
And how soon will they hit the market?
Stick around till the end of the video as we discourse all these and more.
Let’s get into it!
China's humanoid robot 'Jia Jia' was revealed to the world in 2017 when her unconventional
conversations with the world's leading AI experts, including Kevin Kelly, went viral
on the internet.
Viewers were astounded by her human-like looks and enthralled by her efficiency under "uncooperative"
Skype conditions.
Jia Jia, billed as China's first humanoid robot, was unveiled for the first time in
2016 by an engineering team from the University of Science and Technology of China.
Team leader Chen Xiaoping spoke with the tone of a proud father as he and his prototype
made an appearance at an economic conference organized by banking giant UBS in Shanghai's
cutting-edge financial district on Monday 9th January 2017.
Jia Jia's creator thinks the startlingly lifelike robot heralds a time when cyborg labor would
be common in China since she can engage in a basic conversation and exhibit certain human-like
facial expressions when asked questions.
Chen Xiaoping said that Jia Jia has some emotional intelligence as she can recognize human facial
expressions, and respond with facial expressions of her own.
Artificially intelligent (AI) robots like Jia Jia, according to Chen, could start carrying
out a variety of manual labor duties in Chinese restaurants, nursing homes, hospitals, and
residences over the next ten years.
Chen said, "In 5-10 years there will be a lot of applications for robots in China."
Jia Jia has astonishingly real-looking flowing black hair, and she is usually dressed in
traditional Chinese attire.
But her beauty has its limits, and she is sometimes unable to understand simple questions.
Nevertheless, Chen claimed that his team has developed her AI quite well during the previous
two years, and they will keep working to make her better.
She was able to correctly respond to a question about the day's weather, engage in simple
chats, and identify the gender of her interviewers.
She complimented one of her interviewers by saying "You are a handsome man," and when
she was asked if she had a boyfriend, she said, "I prefer to stay single."
A member of the audience attempted to take a photo of her during the press conference,
and her response was truly remarkable.
She said, "Don't come too close to me when you are taking a picture.
It will make my face look fat."
Jia Jia stands out from previous models because of the freedom with which her eyes travel
across the room and the near-perfect synchronization of her lip movements with her words.
The project's completion and Jia Jia's transformation into a robot woman took the team a total of
three years.
Now, in order to upgrade the model, and possibly create Jia Jia 2.0, the team is working to
fix and enhance some features.
Her hands will be given a more adaptable appearance so they won't look like mannequin hands.
Jia Jia is incapable of laughing or crying, so the team also aims to include these abilities
in the next model.
A higher level of human interaction and response is also something they want to teach Jia Jia.
There aren't any firm plans to mass produce her yet because she is regarded as a "priceless"
innovation.
But maybe we'll be able to have meaningful interactions with humanoid robots in the not
too distant future.
Although Jia Jia is definitely not perfect yet, Chen believes that humanoid robots like
her have a promising future in China.
He claimed that rising income was pushing many young Chinese away from waitressing and
other service-related occupations, while an aging populace would want more staff in hospitals
and nursing homes—even if those hands weren't human.
Chen also displayed a video that showed a less lifelike, but more functional, robot
making and serving tea to some members of his team at his university lab in Anhui, China's
easternmost province.
Chen, also, brushed aside science fiction worries about robots becoming too intelligent
for our own good.
He said "As long as this is done in a step-by-step and controlled manner, I don't think there
will be a big impact on society.
It won't harm human beings."
The Chinese people, and the World really, was hit with another shocking Artificial Intelligent
robot appearance in 2019 when a robot named "Xin Xiaomeng" became the first female robot
to anchor a news station.
China again proved its technological prowess in Artificial intelligence.
In an intriguing one-minute video presentation by Xinhua, the artificial intelligence robot
known as "Xin Xiaomeng" was seen sporting a short haircut, a pink blouse, and earrings.
This humanoid robotic newscaster imitates human facial expressions and mannerisms to
convey a story about delegates traveling to Beijing for an annual parliament gathering.
It's interesting to note that Xin is also the second AI-based news anchor to work for
the news organization.
The search engine Sogou assisted in the creation of Xin Xiaomeng, and she was designed to look
like the real-life Xinhua news caster Qu Meng.
Xiaomeng said in a video posted on Twitter "Hello to everybody who's watching."
Then she went on to introduce herself as the broadcaster for China's Two Sessions political
conferences in March 2019.
Xiaomeng has now joined the two male AI reporters from Xinhua who have been covering the conference
since they were introduced in November 2018.
Xinhua revealed that her male colleague Xin Xiahao has received an upgrade as she introduced
herself to the world.
China revealed another humanoid artificial intelligent robot in 2019.
This one was seen wearing a stylish silver bob hair, and had a very realistic silicone
skin.
One weird thing though is that she had exposed mechanical parts.
Jiang Lailai, a stunning humanoid female robot powered by artificial intelligence, co-hosted
a variety show called "Creating the Future with Intelligence" with a human co-host.
This is a show made to showcase and explain new technology and innovation in China.
The show, with its extraordinary human-robot host pair, instantly drew in interested viewers
after showing the first episode during prime time on Zhejiang Television on January 6,
2019, and it became one of the most-watched programs from the network.
Every episode of the show focuses on a different aspect of technology, such as the most recent
advancements in prosthetic limbs, 3-D printing, facial recognition, big data, and mobile payments.
Jiang Lailai, the female robot anchor of Zhejiang Television, was 18 years old in 2019 and enjoys
singing, comic book reading, and "eating snacks," according to a banner that introduced her.
It was also mentioned that the robot is very skilled at analyzing large amounts of data,
and at "being cute".
The female robot presenter was seen presenting the episode's subject while standing on stage
in the station's images and trailers.
She makes rather lifelike lip movements and hand gestures while speaking in a soothing
voice.
EX Robots, the first domestic manufacturer of lifelike robots situated in the Liaoning
region of northeast China is said to be responsible for the development of the android.
The female bot has gained popularity since making her television debut, and videos of
her have been watched more than one billion times on the short-form video apps Douyin
and Kuaishou, according to the public relations office of the administration of Panjin city.
Product manager Niu Shouhai claims that the company is striving to create "practical"
robots that can communicate, offer public services, and help with medical care.
Speaking to MailOnline, Mr Niu said: "We developed robot host Jiang Lailai entirely with Chinese
technologies - from the design to building the hardware, as well as developing AI and
software algorithms and assembling."
While many internet users were happy to see a new face on their TVs, others were worried
that this trend of developing Artificially intelligent robots might lead to the "rise
of the machines."
While acknowledging the concerns about a fictional robot insurrection, Mr. Niu argued that machines
exist to assist people.
He reassured them that the company's goal is to create useful tools that can support
and help those doing labor that is monotonous, risky, or repetitive, freeing them up to do
more "productive and meaningful" jobs.
He said: “It's normal to fear the unknown, but in the end, robots are developed by human
intelligence and controlled by its human inventors.”
So what do you think about these female Humanoid Robots?
Let us know down in the comments section.