China unveils world’s first ‘Artificial Intelligence news anchor’

China's Xinhua News Agency has debuted an artificial intelligence (AI) news anchor on Wednesday as the state-run media organization seeks to bring a "brand new" news experience to the world.

A report posted on YouTube by New China TV features a life-like, English-speaking "AI anchor" modeled after one of Xinhua's actual presenters named Qiu Hao.

Explaining he is programmed to read texts typed into his system, the digital presenter said he would deliver the news without interruption.

"I will work tirelessly to keep you informed as texts will be typed into my system uninterrupted," it said.

It also said the development of the media industry "calls for continuous innovation and deep integration with the international and advanced technologies."

According to the South China Morning Post, Xinhua said its new AI anchors have officially become members of the Xinhua News Agency reporting team.

"They will work with other anchors to bring you authoritative, timely and accurate news information in both Chinese and English,” it added.

Xinhua also hinted in the report that AI anchors may one day "challenge" their human counterparts because of their ability to work 24 hours a day provided human editors keep inputting text into the system. — MDM, GMA News