Putin confronts his AI ‘double’
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There has been recurrent speculation that Mr Putin has one or more body doubles to cover for him in some public appearances because of alleged health problems.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin briefly appeared lost for words on Dec 14 when confronted with an artificial intelligence (AI) generated version of himself.
The “double” took the opportunity to pose a question to Mr Putin about AI during an annual news conference, where dozens of callers from around the country were hooked up to the President by video link.
Prompting laughter among the audience in the hall with Mr Putin in Moscow, the double asked: “Vladimir Vladimirovich, hello, I am a student at St Petersburg state university. I want to ask, is it true you have a lot of doubles?
“And also, how do you view the dangers that AI and neural networks bring into our lives?”
The question prompted a rare hesitation from Mr Putin, already in his fourth hour of taking questions at the marathon event.
“I see you may resemble me and speak with my voice. But I have thought about it and decided that only one person must be like me and speak with my voice, and that will be me,” he said.
There has been recurrent speculation, particularly in Western media, that Mr Putin has one or more body doubles to cover for him in some public appearances because of alleged health problems.
The Kremlin denied that and said the President’s health is excellent. REUTERS
