Humanoid robot enrolls in doctoral drama programme in China
The admission ceremony took place at the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference that recently concluded in Shanghai, making it the first embodied intelligent robot in China to enroll as a doctoral student.
Named 'Xue Ba 01', the robot features excellent lightweight and endurance. Developed by a team led by Dr Li Qingdu, a professor at the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, the robot was produced by Shanghai DroidUp and its appearance and styling was designed by Dr Yang Qingqing, a professor at Shanghai Theatre Academy.
'The robot is essentially an AI agent with a physical entity. We are trying to make it like a 'bionic man' that has a realistic and natural humanlike appearance, expressions, body movements and interactions,' said Prof Li, who is also the founder of DroidUp.
The development of the robot started in 2021 when the two institutions signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement. They jointly launched the nation's first high-level talent cultivation programme focusing on integrating arts and robotics technologies.
Leveraging their own expertise and disciplinary strengths, the two sides designed a growth path and competency framework for robotics doctoral programmes, and established multiple training modules.
According to Dr Yang, who is also Xue Ba 01's academic adviser, the robot's curriculum in the four-year programme will cover foundational, artistic, system and task modules, among others. It will receive comprehensive training in sectors such as cognitive modeling, embodied control and action expression, stage role-playing, and participate in doctoral task challenges, reports and performances.
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In the future, Xue Ba 01 is expected to join other doctoral students in classrooms, where it will learn theory and engage in drama practice, and further study at key laboratories featuring the integration of AI and performing arts.
'We see significant meaning in the program,' Prof Li said. 'If the robot could learn well to become a good 'performer', it can serve to provide emotional values for humans in the future. A human performer may get exhausted after dozens of shows, but robots won't. It can also help in longtime companionship, as well as many other scenes that require human interaction.'
Prof Li pointed out that their challenges in the four-year programme lie not only in the robotics technology sector, but also in acting. With joint efforts, they expect to make breakthroughs in the robot's interaction with the physical world, especially in its movements, expressions and gestures with humanlike beauty and emotions.
'The doctoral programme for robotics is a groundbreaking educational experiment that requires 'unity of knowledge and action'. Robots have the ability to learn fast, which will have an important impact on future education. We must train them to understand people, scenes and arts,' said Prof Zhang Jianwei, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering. CHINA DAILY/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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