A strange 2022 is about to get stranger, with Channel 4’s Alternative Christmas Message set to be delivered by an AI robot.
The established 30-year-old alternative to the BBC’s annual Royal message, which will be delivered by King Charles III for the first time this year, will come from an AI robot developed in Cornwall named Ameca.
Fear not, humans, Ameca is set to calm the nation by telling us that 2022 was a “learning opportunity, a chance to change the way we think about the world and a reminder to help those in need whenever we can.”
According to parts of the speech briefed by Channel 4, the robot will go on to back the human race for “always finding something to laugh about” no matter how bad the day is.
Cornwall-based Engineered Arts developed the robot, who is capable of smiling, frowning, blinking and scrunching her nose having been developed from millions of different inputs. The speech has in no way been scripted by a human, Channel 4 insisted.
The move isn’t the first time the network has used developing technology to helm the Christmas message. In 2020, the annual address was given by a deepfake version of Queen Elizabeth II, performed by Coronation Street actor Debra Stephenson and jarring with the real Queen’s message over on BBC One. Regulator Ofcom received more than 200 complaints to the regulator over the stunt for “disrespectful” jokes “in poor taste.”
Other Alternative Christmas Message deliverers since its 1993 inception include diver Tom Daley, EastEnders star Danny Dyer and Edward Snowden.
