In an unprecedented leap in the technological world, Chinese scientists introducted, Tong Tong, the world’s first virtual AI kid. The name, Tong Tong, means ‘little girl’ in English. The virtual kid possesses the behavior and capabilities of a three or four years old child.
Tong Tong can reportedly autonomously perform tasks such as exploring her surroundings, organizing rooms, and removing stains. Tong Tong can enhance her skills, knowledge, and values by interacting with humans. It has a vocabulary of more than 600 words, and is able to learn like a child.
Tong Tong was introduced at the Frontier of General Artificial Intelligence Technology Exhibition, which was recently held in Beijing, supported by the Beijing Institute for General Artificial Intelligence (BIGAI), international media outlets reported.
At the exhibition, it connected with visitors while also displaying its human-like qualities, media portals further suggested.
The ceremony also displayed a program video that stated, “Tong Tong possesses a mind and strives to understand the common sense taught by humans. It added, “She discerns right from wrong, expresses her attitudes in various situations, and has the power to shape the future,” media portals reported.
South China Morning Post reported that the exhibition also saw BIGAI’s director, Zhu Songchun, introducing ‘the Tong test’. The test served as a replacement for the Turing Test for general AI. Turing Test differentiaes a between a human or AI speaking to a robot, whereas, the Tong test offers with a wider set of parameters.
Zhu, while speaking to the South China Morning Post, “To advance towards general artificial intelligence, we must create entities that can comprehend the real world and possess a wide range of skills.” He added, “Unlike the AI-powered robots you might have seen in films like Terminator, Tong Tong does not have a physical form.”
