Ukraine on Wednesday introduced an AI-generated spokesperson named Victoria, who will make official statements on behalf of its Foreign Ministry.
The ministry said that “for the first time in history” it would use a digital spokesperson to read its statements, which will continue to be written by humans.
Dressed in a dark suit, the spokesperson introduced herself as Victoria Shi, a “digital person,” in a presentation posted on social media. The figure gestures with her hands and moves her head as she speaks.
The Foreign Ministry’s press service said Shi’s statements would not be generated by AI but “written and verified by real people.”
“It’s just the visual part that AI helps us generate,” said Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, adding that the new spokesperson was a “technological leap that no diplomatic service in the world has taken yet.”
The main reason for creating it was to “save time and resources” for diplomats, he said. The creators of Shi are a team called Game Changers that has also created VR content related to the war in Ukraine.
The spokesperson’s name is based on the word “victory” and the Ukrainian phrase for artificial intelligence: intellectual shtuchniy.
Shi’s appearance and voice are inspired by a real person: Rosalie Name, singer and former contestant on the Ukrainian version of the reality show The Bachelor. Name was born in the now Russian-controlled city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. She has 54,000 followers on her Instagram account, which she uses to discuss stereotypes about mixed-race Ukrainians and those who grew up Russian speakers.
The ministry said Name participated for free. He stressed that Shi and Nombre “are two different people” and that only the AI figure will give official statements.
To prevent falsifications, the statements will be accompanied by a QR code that will link them to the text versions on the ministry’s website. Shi will comment on consular services, a currently controversial issue.
Ukraine last week suspended such services for men of fighting age living abroad, requiring them to return home to complete administrative procedures and potentially face conscription.