China develops a humanoid robot Jia Jia to herald in a future of cyborg labour

China has developed a humanoid robot Jia Jia and, with this, China is heralding in a future of cyborg labour. The life-like robot “Jia Jia” is able to hold a simple conversation and make specific facial expressions when asked.
It is billed as China’s first human-like robot and was unveiled last year by a team of engineers at the University of Science and Technology of China.
This has been reported in thehindu.com dated 9 January 2017.

Jia Jia's creator has predicted that within a decade, artificially intelligent robots will begin to carry out a range of menial tasks in Chinese restaurants, nursing homes, hospitals and households. It has flowing black hair and is dressed in a traditional Chinese dress and looks very much real but, it still has to learn a lot - it has its charms but also its limits and simple questions frequently stump her.
The robot is able to answer a query about the day’s weather, hold basic conversations and recognize the gender of her questioners but has to learn a lot. Such robots have a bright future in China. Growing prosperity was causing many young Chinese to stay away from jobs like waitressing. Moreover, an ageing population would require more hands on deck in hospitals and nursing homes — and robots like Jia Jia can be really useful in these activities.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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