Robot Xueba 01 to do PhD in China, will robots replace students, what social media users are saying?
A robot named Xueba 01 has been accepted into a four-year PhD program in Drama and Film at the China's Shanghai Theatre Academy. This is the first time a robot has been given full candidate status for a doctorate.
Xueba 01 was created by the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology and DroidUp Robotics. The robot's application was accepted during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference on July 27.
The robot will focus on traditional Chinese opera and has already received a virtual student ID. Its mentor will be a well-known artist and professor named Yang Qingqing.
Xueba 01 looks like a handsome man and can show facial expression
Xueba 01 looks like a handsome adult man and can show facial expressions because of its silicone skin. It will start attending classes and rehearsing operas with other students on September 14.
The robot will study subjects like stage performance, script-writing, and set design, as well as technical topics like motion control and language generation. Xueba 01 is 1.75 meters tall, weighs about 30 kg, and can interact with people. Its previous version even won third place in a humanoid half-marathon.
Social media users express skepticism
As the news of an AI robot joining the PhD programme went viral, a section of social media users expressed skepticism at the development.
"Now robots are replacing students," wrote one user, while another added: "Art needs life experience. A robot's algorithm-driven creations cannot truly move people."
A third commented: "Some arts PhD students in China still get less than 3,000 yuan (US$420) a month. Is this robot taking too many resources meant for real students?"
Prakash Kumar Pandey