“Creepy creature”: Chinese scientists have developed “the world’s first child with artificial intelligence”

The artificially intelligent creature has the intelligence and behavior of a three-year-old child. Scientists even say Tong-Tong can experience joy, anger and sadness, and may look and act like a little girl, but this “creepy creature,” as the Daily Mail puts it, may just be the next big thing in artificial intelligence (AI). ).

Tong Tong, which means “little girl”, has been named the world’s first artificially intelligent child after it was reported by scientists at the Beijing Institute of General Artificial Intelligence (BIGAI).

According to its creators, a child with artificial intelligence can assign tasks to himself, learn autonomously and explore the environment.

And while it sounds like the plot of a sci-fi movie, the engineers who created Tong Tong say the creature’s AI can even experience emotions.

In the video, BIGAI says that Tong Tong “has her own joy, anger and sadness.”

The development was presented at the Frontiers of General exhibition of artificial intelligence technologies, held in Beijing at the end of January, notes the Daily Mail.

Unlike the AI-powered robots seen in films like The Terminator, Tong Tong has no physical form.

Instead, an artificial intelligence object exists and operates in a virtual environment with which it is capable of interacting.

Its creators say Tong Tong demonstrates the intelligence and abilities of a three- or four-year-old child.

According to a report from the South China Morning Post, conference attendees were able to talk to Tong Tong and assign tasks to the unusual creature.

For example, if you ask Tong Tong to clean up, the AI ​​will fix a crooked photo frame. If the image was too high, the AI ​​would find a stool to reach without assistance.

Meanwhile, if a person “spilled milk” in a virtual room, Tong Tong would be able to deduce that cleaning was needed and would find a towel to wipe up the liquid.

However, Tong Tong’s most unique feature is its ability to independently assign tasks, notes the Daily Mail.

AI chatbots such as ChatGPT or Google Bard only respond to tasks assigned to them by human agents and will not act without an explicit request. This means that even the most advanced robots do not operate truly autonomously.

Some AI-powered robots, such as Ameca, called “the world’s most advanced humanoid robot,” work with a human-in-the-loop system where a human must give instructions to the robot to carry out. More autonomous systems, such as robotic weapons, use a human-in-the-loop system. This means that the AI ​​performs some tasks on its own, but the human still either gives final permission, sets parameters, or can override the action.

It is unclear whether Tong Tong is truly an autonomous being, but its creators seem to imply that it is much more independent than the previous AI.

According to BIGAI, Tong Tong is able to define new tasks for herself based on the values ​​and common sense of people.

The video posted by BIGAI said, “Tong Tong is intelligent and strives to understand the common sense that people teach. She knows right from wrong, expresses her attitude in various situations, and has the power to shape the future.”

At the exhibition, BIGAI director Zhu Songchun also introduced the “Tong test”, which is intended to replace the Turing test for artificial general intelligence. While the Turing Test asks whether a person can tell whether they are talking to an artificial intelligence or a robot, the “Tong Test” looks at a much broader set of parameters. They aim to develop artificial intelligence that can “learn and perform tasks in complex environments, guided by values ​​and an understanding of cause and effect.”

Zhu tells the South China Morning Post: “To move towards artificial general intelligence, we must create entities that can comprehend the real world and have a wide range of skills.”