The article discusses the unveiling of Tong Tong, the world’s first virtual artificial intelligence (AI) child, developed by Chinese scientists at the Beijing Institute for General Artificial Intelligence (BIGAI).

Tong Tong, also known as Little Girl, is capable of autonomous learning and displays emotions such as joy, anger, and sorrow. According to her makers, she possesses the ability to discern right from wrong, express attitudes in various situations, and shape the future.

Tong Tong’s behavior and abilities resemble those of a three or four-year-old child, and she can continuously improve her skills, knowledge, and values through exploration and human interaction.

BIGAI director Zhu Songchun, a renowned scholar in AI, emphasizes the importance of creating AI entities that comprehend the real world and possess a wide range of skills to advance towards general artificial intelligence. The article also introduces the Tong Test, a platform for AI testing developed by Zhu’s team, which assesses AI across five dimensions and encompasses a value system ranging from physiological needs to group values. The Tong Test aims to guide general AI in learning and improving its capabilities effectively and safely to better serve human society.

Editor’s Note: This development is reminiscent of a Steven Spielberg film called AI, where scientists create David, an artificial kid who develops real feelings. Tong Tong’s makers want to think that she can make independent decisions, or that later on, she might actually be able to feel love, but the science shows that this is impossible [read SUBHASH KAK: CONSCIOUSNESS IS NOT JUST COMPUTATION, NEURONAL ACTIVITY DOES NOT CREATE CONSCIOUSNESS, HOW CAN WE TEST FOR CONSCIOUSNESS IN MACHINES?].

What can happen, however, is that we delude ourselves that machines can think, feel, and make the right judgments. [See ARE MACHINES CONSCIOUS?, GOOGLE ENGINEER CLAIMS AI CHATBOT HAS BECOME SENTIENT].

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