15 year old Tanmay Bakshi talks about how he perceives the future, and how AI, AIOps will change 06-23

China’s state-run press agency has created an ‘AI anchor’ to read the news. 11-12

Xinhua, China’s state-run press agency, has unveiled new “AI anchors” — digital composites created from footage of human hosts that read the news using synthesized voices.

It’s not clear exactly what technology has been used to create the anchors, but they’re in line with the most recent machine learning research. It seems that Xinhua has used footage of human anchors as a base layer, and then animated parts of the mouth and face to turn the speaker into a virtual puppet. By combining this with a synthesized voice, Xinhua can program the digital anchors to read the news, far quicker than using traditional CGI. (We’ve reached out to AI experts in the field to see what their analysis is.)

According to reports from Xinhua and the South China Morning Post, two anchors (one for English broadcasts and one for Chinese) were created in collaboration with local search engine company Sogou. Xinhua says the anchors have “endless prospects” and can be used to cheaply generate news reports for the agency’s TV, web, and mobile output.

Each anchor can “work 24 hours a day on its official website and various social media platforms, reducing news production costs and improving efficiency,” says Xinhua.

The technology has its limitations. In the videos above and below of the English-speaking anchor, it’s obvious that the range of facial expressions are limited, and the voice is clearly artificial. But machine learning research in this area is making swift improvements, and it’s not hard to imagine a future where AI anchors are indistinguishable from the real thing. 

This will strike many as a disturbing prospect, especially as the technology is being deployed in China. There, the press is constantly censored, and it is nearly impossible to get clear reports of even widespread events like the country’s suppression of the Muslim Uighur community. Creating fake anchors to read propaganda sounds chilling.

But what the actual effect on society may be if such anchors become widespread is hard to judge. If Xinhua wants someone to read the news without questioning it they don’t need AI to make that happen. Meanwhile, synthetic characters are slowly finding their way into mainstream culture, with figures like virtual pop star Hatsune Miku and CGI Instagram models familiarizing the public with this sort of creation.

But while these examples fall clearly into the world of entertainment, having AI anchors read the news suggests the technology could become more than a novelty. 

ments

A close up of the Xinhua AI anchor’s face. Only the mouth looks edited.

Self-driving Mercedes seen cruising around San Francisco 03-12

Self-driving Mercedes seen cruising around San Francisco

Every now and then there is something so cool that even the tech-inundated people of San Francisco have to look twice.

That’s what has been happening this week as pedestrians saw a silver streak whip by them in the form of a new self-drivingMercedes F015 Luxury In Motion.

First things first: it’s actually called the “Luxury In Motion,” that’s not a joke

The car sightings were first reported on Reddit, where user sfchillinposted a photo and asked for help.

People were quick to respond with comments like: “Welp, can’t be worse than the usual SF drivers,” and, “Parked in the crosswalk like a boss. Self driving car does what it wants.”

Mercedes became one of the first and only automakers in the U.S. to earn a license to test driverless vehicles on public roads last September. The F015 was then revealed to the public at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

SF Gate reports that the car had been trailered in for a photo shoot, but according to professional photographer Jake Stangel it was driving under its own power while they photographed it.