Germany unveils an AI-generated "virtual minister"
發佈日期: 2025-10-03 20:34
TVB News
The German government has unveiled an AI-generated "virtual minister," modelled on the country's culture and media minister, to communicate with the public in multiple languages.
In its debut video, the avatar spoke in languages -- including Chinese -- criticising short-video platform TikTok for addicting young people.
Speaking in German, the virtual "Minister Weimatar" says he is a political experiment and can speak without the need to clear his throat, able to talk in over a hundred languages.
The German government partnered with a European artificial intelligence company to create the virtual minister, replicating Germany's Minister for Culture and Media Wolfram Weimer's voice and appearance.
In his debut video, the virtual minister speaks in Chinese Putonghua, Dutch, Polish and French.
He slams video sharing platform TikTok, which has about 25 million active users in Germany, for making young people become addicted and encouraging dangerous trends and distorted beauty ideals.
In Chinese, he says companies that want to do business in Europe should toe European rules. They include transparency, accountability, effective youth protection, fairness and freedom of speech.
The virtual minister adds that artificial intelligence brings new opportunities for creativity, culture and communication, but it also comes with potential risks of
deepfake technology, misinformation and a lack of transparency.
Earlier, Albania appointed a chatbot as its Minister of Public Procurement, and Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also introduced a virtual spokesperson.
Some German media have warned of potential risks as society grows accustomed to governments using virtual avatars noting the line between reality and digital realms may blur, and decisions made through democratic mechanisms may also become technology-led,diminishing the human role in governance.
