China’s first human-like robot, Jia Jia can hold a conversation and make specific facial expressions when asked

The University of Science and Technology of China has recently unveiled an eerily realisticrobot named Jia Jia

 

Jia Jia’s prototype was unveiled by a team of its creators in Shanghai. Her inventors say the robot can hold a simple conversation and make specific facial expressions when asked. It is able to accurately answer a query about the day’s weather, hold basic conversations, and recognize the gender of her questioners.

Engineers predict within a decade, artificially intelligent robots like Jia Jia would begin performing a range of tasks in restaurants, nursing homes, hospitals, and households.

Unlike the overwhelming majority of almost-human bots that have appeared in the past decade or so, Jia Jia has very little of uncanny valley aesthetic that makes most bots seem so fake. She can recognize faces and learn things, which add to the realism factor. Everything from her hair to her various accessories and clothing choices seems spot on, that is, until she starts talking.

China’s first human-like robot, Jia Jia, has impressed the public at a conference by holding conversations with participants.

Jia Jia’s conversation skills are impressive, and she’s able to carry on a back-and-forth dialogue without many stumbles, but her nearly-real facade breaks down once you see her actually mouthing out the words. But accurate lip syncing is far from the the only aspect of Jia Jia that requires further development. The robot, which is more of a proof of concept than anything else, still can’t actually walk on its own. Jia Jia’s makers already have a newer, more nimble bot up and running, but it doesn’t yet have the good looks of its predecessor.