Tradition and technology sync at China ‘AI temple fair’

A humanoid robot gyrates to pulsing tune at a browsing mall in Beijing, a part of an exhibition harnessing artificial intelligence to toughen the flavour of China’s biggest annual competition.

The nation is celebrating the eight-day Lunar New Year holiday that on the final sees americans return dwelling to eat, drink and get merry with family and chums.

From dragon dances to incense choices, the competition is additionally a time to nurture centuries-frail traditions—though on this nook of the capital, they attain with a high-tech twist.

Billed as an “AI temple unprejudiced”, the match in Beijing’s neatly-heeled Haidian district is a chance for native technology corporations to reward their products to the public.

“(Robots) can already attain loads of things, devour take things off the shelves and get coffee,” acknowledged Sophia Wu as she strolled among silicon shop assistants and binary baristas.

“I could per chance perhaps love to contain a robot, and then it would possibly per chance perhaps attain all my chores for me, and that can perhaps perhaps liberate loads of my time,” the Forty eight-year-frail housewife and retired engineer told AFP.

A troupe of robots manufactured by Hangzhou-based fully tech firm Unitree made global headlines this week after they conducted a synchronized dance on China’s Spring Festival TV gala.

The singular dancer in the mall, on the opposite hand, set apart on a extra modest stamp, staying rooted on the bottom whereas jerkily swaying its hips and fingers.

Described as a “high quality human imitation robot” known as Xiao Xin, it was as soon as able to talking with americans and making diminutive modifications to the expressions on its practical prosthetic face, a reward placard acknowledged.

Nearby, a visitor tentatively requested a life-dimension humanoid dressed as China’s musty wealth god what it had eaten for breakfast.

“This morning, I enjoyed a hearty breakfast that integrated fresh fruit, luscious fried eggs, and candy bread,” the robot replied in a resounding baritone, shaking its wispy beard and glittering crimson robe.

“I hope that in the brand new year, you would possibly per chance perhaps perhaps additionally eat healthily and deliciously, and be gay each day.”

‘Attraction of robots’

In utterly different places, a motley band of automated musicians cranked out holiday songs on analog devices, and finely tuned robotic fingers wielded ink brushes to jot down calligraphy on thick red paper.

Expecting his scroll to dry, Bai Song, 34, acknowledged the exhibition had left him with a “deep impact of the enchantment of robots”.

“Every era inevitably produces diverse things. It be imaginable that AI will replace some of us, but there will additionally be new jobs, or new forms of labor,” the IT legitimate told AFP.

“Additionally, we’re a socialist nation, so there is no technique that of us’s lives are right this moment going to get worse, because the explain will present our security get.”

China leads the sphere in some developed applied sciences and goals to defend out global supremacy in AI by the finish of the decade.

An AI chatbot developed by Chinese launch-up DeepSeek despatched shockwaves via the industry this week with its R1 program that can match American competitors apparently at a share of the trace.

Aloof, no longer the entirety at the AI temple unprejudiced gave the impact fairly so disruptive perfect but.

A robotic koi carp over and over swam into the wall of its water-stuffed enclosure, and two semi-automated soccer teams plodded spherical an indoor pitch, colliding with each other and scuffing their kicks.

On the touchline, Cheng Cheng, a instrument trend engineer at manufacturer Booster Robotics, acknowledged the corporate was as soon as engaged on “study-oriented applications” devour refining foot and hand actions and interactions with AI.

Whatever the scrappy recreation—won 5-2 by a pair of robots in pink jerseys—the 36-year-frail was as soon as upbeat about the firm’s future potentialities.

“Right here’s a birth line for us to get our robots extra sturdy and fall-resistant… (and to) toughen their energy,” he told AFP.

© 2025 AFP