What happened when a Chinese TV station replaced its meteorologist with a chatbot - The Washington Post

Later in the article: "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."

"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."

What happened when a Chinese TV station replaced its meteorologist with a chatbot - The Washington Post