China-based news station using AI robot as a weather forecaster

Last November we reported on Microsoft’s personal assistant, Xiaoice a China-based news station, Dragon TV, is now using the robot as a weather forecaster. “Xiaoice works more efficiently than human forecasters,” the news director of Shanghai Media Group said. The weather forecast is delivered on ‘Morning News’ by Xiaoice, which is programmed with a female voice. While the data is taken from official sources, Xiaoice adds a personal, human touch, advising viewers to wrap up in cold weather or not to exercise when the air quality is poor. Depending on how many more abilities the Microsoft researchers can build into the assistant, the chatbot could become a commentator for news features on Dragon TV, or on an entertainment talk show. Despite a positive reaction in the first broadcast, she hasn’t exceeded the station’s previous forecasters in terms of popularity and the company doesn’t expect human anchors to be replaced in the near term. The Microsoft group is concentrating on improving Xiaocie’s abilities in order to increase its popularity and machine learning capabilities. 

"[She is] very hard-working!" said Song Jiongming, news director of Shanghai Media Group, which runs Dragon TV, in an email interview. "Xiaoice works more efficiently than human forecasters."

The newbie takes no vacations or holidays. She's never late to work and never stumbles on air. Of course, it's easy to be the star employee when you're really a robot.

There's a new meteorologist on Dragon TV, a news station based in China, and her bosses are raving about her work ethic.

When the anchor on "Morning News" needs a weather report, he introduces Xiaoice (pronounced shao-ice), a computer program that delivers the forecast with a female voice and is programmed to include a personal, human touch. TV viewers are shown a shot of an empty TV studio, while weather graphics on a screen augment Xiaoice's forecast.

She does three 90-second forecasts during the two-hour program, focused on local, domestic and international conditions. The data is taken from official sources, and she doesn't crunch weather data to make her own predictions. Xiaoice will even remind viewers to bundle up when it's cold, and cautions against exercise when the air quality is bad.

Xiaoice originated as a creation of Microsoft's artificial intelligence team in China, which wanted to make an online service that would answer users' questions and add an emotional, human touch. Xiaoice's television appearances began in December, in a deal with Microsoft that Dragon TV called a one-year internship for Xiaoice.

Song said that Dragon TV wanted to be on the cutting edge and experiment with new possibilities, hence the interest in Xiaoice. And by leaving the weather role to Xiaoice, the station says it can devote more of its staff energy and attention to investigations and research projects that require advanced analytical capabilities that robots don't have.

The chatbot could get an expanded role on DragonTV as a commentator on news features, or on an entertainment talk show. That will depend on how many more abilities the Microsoft researchers can build into Xiaoice.