It was developed by the Beijing Institute for General Artificial Intelligence and has the “mental and value system of a 3 or 4-year-old girl,” but is able to “grow” quickly with experience. It will make its debut in a few days at the Zhongguancun Forum, but the descriptions already highlight the relational aspects. Perspective for using it in the care of the elderly, an increasingly evident problem for the China of tomorrow.
Beijing (/Agencies) – Red shoes, pink pants and white t-shirt. With a headband on his head, he is able to interact individually with his “dad” and “mom,” understanding their intentions and participating in tasks such as helping them clean the floor, washing a dirty cloth, or turning on the television. This is how Tong Tong (“girl”), the Chinese prototype of a robot girl created with artificial intelligence by the Beijing Institute for General Artificial Intelligence (BIGAI), will be presented.
It was already announced several months ago and will officially make its public debut on April 27 at the 2024 edition of the Zhongguancun Forum, the most important Chinese annual event on new technologies, which will be held in Beijing next week. But the official English-language newspaper Global Times He already had the opportunity to “meet her”, and a few days ago he offered a detailed description.
Tong Tong is guided by two cognitive systems: the U system (ability) and the V system (value). This allows you to tackle your tasks in a unique way and according to your current state, which is evaluated through five dimensions: hunger, boredom, thirst, tiredness and drowsiness. “Her mental and value system today is comparable to that of a 3 or 4-year-old child. But as he develops and repeats the different operations, he will become more vivid, dynamic and real, just as it happens with us humans. They will be able to see it if they return at the end of this year or next year to have a new experience,” she told the Global Times Zhu Song-Chun, director of the Beijing Institute for General Artificial Intelligence. Once the basic frame of reference is established, Tong Tong's learning ability will accelerate and it will probably take him two to three years to go from age 3 to 18, rather than 15, Zhu continued.
The goal of BIGAI is for Tong Tong to be able to carry out tasks such as helping humans serve tea and water, and providing warm companionship in homes, and it can be used in multiple personalized scenarios, such as people's homes. seniors. The institute even raises the possibility of creating a Tong Tong “family” that includes grandparents, younger siblings and friends from kindergarten.
Beyond the ethical discussions that it is destined to provoke due to its “human” characteristics – all to be verified -, in the description offered by the Global Times The insistence on the characteristics linked to the dimensions of personal relationships and care is striking. One senses the desire to strike a chord in Chinese society, where children – who are few and not only due to the disastrous effects of decades of the short-sighted one-child policy – already have increasing difficulties in taking care of their children. elderly parents. That is why the emphasis on Tong Tong's surprising abilities to engage emotionally almost seems to want to offer a technological solution to confront an increasingly serious social problem. Meanwhile, young Chinese, increasingly disillusioned, seem to have no intention of listening to the Party's pressing invitations to change course and have children again.
