kyiv gets a spokesperson generated by artificial intelligence

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has now a new spokesperson. Her name: Victoria Shi. But there’s no point looking for your CV on the internet: it’s an avatar. It is in fact artificial intelligence which will now be responsible for commenting on consular affairs by reading texts. “I’m a digital person. That means the text you hear wasn’t read by a real person. It was created by AI”declared the new spokesperson, who has the features of a young mixed-race woman, in her first video posted on YouTube, Wednesday May 1.

“For the first time in history, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has created a digital personality using artificial intelligence technologies to officially comment on consular information for the media”, welcomed the institution. The ministry’s press service, however, told AFP that the press releases would be “written and verified by real people”. “Artificial intelligence only helps us generate the visual part.” The ministry claims to have put in place measures to prevent the spread of false statements from its spokesperson, in particular a QR code intended to prove the authenticity of the videos.

“Real diplomats can be more effective”

His future statements will be published online and made available to journalists. The ministry notes that it will not replace its official spokesperson, a very real one, and that it will only handle consular affairs. The choice of an AI-generated spokesperson also aims to “save the ministry’s time and resources”estimated the head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kouleba. “Real diplomats will be able to be more efficient and concentrate on other tasks.”

The first and last name of this spokesperson were not chosen at random: “Victoria” evokes the “victory” of Ukraine in the war between it and Russia and “Shi” simply means “IA” in Ukrainian. The avatar borrows its appearance from the Ukrainian singer and influencer Rosalie Numéro. This former candidate for the Ukrainian edition of the reality TV show “The Bachelor” was born in Donetsk, the large city in the east of the country, now occupied by Russia.