--- title: "Scholar Creates AI-Powered Simulated Child" description: "A renowned Chinese scholar has unveiled what he's calling the world's first AI child — and she might bring the technology into a new age. " date: "2024-02-03" modified: "2024-02-03" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/ai-child-agi" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "agi" - "avatar" - "the digest" - "zhu songchun" --- # Scholar Creates AI-Powered Simulated Child ![A renowned Chinese scholar has unveiled what he's calling the world's first AI child — and she might bring the technology into a new age. ]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Scholarly Pursuits A Chinese scholar has unveiled what he's calling the world's first AI child — and saying the creation could bring the technology into a new age. As the [*South China Morning Post* reports](), visitors at the Frontiers of General Artificial Intelligence Technology Exhibition held in Beijing at the end of January were able to interact with the avatar representing Tong Tong, a virtual toddler whose name translates to "Little Girl" in English. Created at the Beijing Institute for General Artificial Intelligence (BIGAI) — which, yes, are [dedicated to building artificial general intelligence](), or human-level AI — Tong Tong is the brainchild of Zhu Songchun, the institute's computer scientist founder who specializes in "[cognitive artificial intelligence]()," or AI designed to mimic human cognition. While AI avatars can have all kinds of [simulated appearances]() and [personalities](), they say Tong Tong is designed to break new technical ground by not only executing tasks given to her in a virtual environment, but independently giving herself new tasks as well. "Tong Tong possesses a mind and strives to understand the common sense taught by humans," a Chinese-language video from BIGAI about the child sim says, per *SCMP*'s translation. "She discerns right from wrong, expresses her attitudes in various situations, and has the power to shape the future." ## Deductive Reasoning Beyond being a novelty for conference-goers, Tong Tong is slated to play a larger role in the future of AGI via BIGAI's "Tong Test." Proposed [last year]() as a sort of inverse and much more complex [Turing Test](), this nearly 150-question evaluation is meant to deduce the sophistication of an AI model. Its battery of assessments looks into five quantifiable dimensions — vision, language, cognition, emotion, and learning — as well as social and group values in an effort to determine how close to AGI a given model may be. "For \[AGI\] to integrate seamlessly into human environments, it must learn and execute tasks in complex settings, driven by values and an understanding of causality," Zhu was quoted as saying in a statement last year, per the *SCMP*. "This is why we proposed the Tong Test, a new direction for testing general AI, focusing on practical abilities and values." While that sounds a lot like the sort of AI optimism that gets [clowned on in the US]() — where Zhu was educated and lived for decades before going back to China, in part to [escape xenophobia]() — Tong Tong is nevertheless part and parcel of the scholar's efforts to build AGI, and as her creator said at the Beijing conference last month, the data she helps gather may bring the world ever closer to that terrifying goal. "To advance towards general artificial intelligence," Zhu said, "we must create entities that can comprehend the real world and possess a wide range of skills." **More on uncanny AI:** [*FCC Moves to Make Robocalls With AI-Synthesized Voices Illegal*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()