“With my appointment, we are taking a step towards the future. » Victoria Shi became, Wednesday 1er May, the official spokesperson for Ukrainian diplomacy. If his face doesn’t mean anything to you, it’s because he is not a real person, but an artificial intelligence, responsible for broadcasting messages from the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“I was created by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, using artificial intelligence, to provide you with quality, real-time information on consular affairs,” she explains in a video from introduction published Wednesday.
1 Who is Victoria Shi?
The ministry’s website provides more details on this project. We learn that Victoria Shi is a character based on a real person: Rosalie Numéro, a Ukrainian singer and influencer, who agreed to take part in this project. The ministry specifies that only Victoria Shi will speak on behalf of the government.
“My first name is the symbol of our main goal, the victory of Ukraine, and my last name is the artificial intelligence that created me,” she explains.
2 Why use artificial intelligence?
“Creating a digital spokesperson is part of an overall strategy. Diplomacy, not just in Ukraine but around the world, has always been a conservative environment that was among the last to innovate. We are changing that. Ukrainian diplomacy is strengthening its capabilities to use technological advances, which no other diplomatic service in the world has yet done,” said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
But more than the symbol, kyiv hopes above all that this artificial intelligence will save “time and resources” for ministry services. “Real diplomats will be able to be more efficient and more focused on other tasks to help citizens”, rather than communicating, added the minister. According to him, in times of war, it is a “need to accelerate all processes to stay one step ahead”.
3 What protections against “deepfakes”?
In an era of the proliferation of fake videos, using a digital person to transmit official messages can seem like a risk. But the ministry assures that numerous protections have been ensured to avoid “deepfakes”.
A QR Code will accompany each of Victoria Shi’s videos, linking to the website of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs where a written transcription of her statements will appear. “In the absence of this QR Code or in the presence of a QR Code linking to any other site, the video cannot be considered authentic. »
