AI diplomat: Ukraine’s MFA has “engaged” a digital spokesperson (video)
The digital avatar Victoria AI became the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on consular issues. It will report news about the work of consuls and respond to incidents or emergencies.
For the first time in history, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has created a digital persona using artificial intelligence technologies to officially comment on consular information for the media. The representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on consular issues is Victoria Shi. This is stated in a message on the website of the department on Wednesday, May 1.
Ukrainian singer and influencer Rosalie Nombre became the prototype for the representative of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on consular issues. She agreed to participate in the project voluntarily and free of charge. The team filmed and digitized Nombre.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that the consular representative and her real-life prototype are two different people, and only the digital person Victoria Shi makes official comments on behalf of the consular service of the department.
In her first video message, she said that she would provide journalists with news about the work of consuls to protect the rights and interests of Ukrainian citizens outside the country, as well as respond to incidents or emergencies.
“My name symbolizes our main goal – the victory of Ukraine, and my surname is the artificial intelligence that created me. My job will be to provide the public with up-to-date and verified information from the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine,” said Victoria Shii.
The MFA representative’s comments on consular issues will be posted on the department’s official resources, website, and social media pages, and will also be sent to journalists by the MFA press service.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba noted that the digital identity will allow real diplomats to focus on other tasks related to helping citizens. According to him, the use of artificial intelligence technologies in the work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not a whim, but a requirement of wartime. He believes that in order to achieve the results necessary for the state, it is necessary to speed up all processes and be one step ahead.
“Diplomacy, not only in Ukraine, but all over the world, has always been a conservative sphere that was the last to innovate. We are changing this. Ukrainian diplomacy is now strengthening its capabilities and making a technological leap that no other diplomatic service in the world has ever made,” Kuleba added.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has provided several levels of avatar protection against digital counterfeiting. Each original video of the consular representative has a QR code that leads to the text version of the same commentary on the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If the QR code is missing or leads to any other website, such a video is not considered authentic.
The agency emphasized that the consular representative is not a replacement for the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. After the end of Oleh Nikolenko’s term in office, the MFA has already held a competition. The winner has been selected and is undergoing the necessary special checks.
