Virtual anchors and hosts on the rise

A woman has her AI counterpart generated in Digital Education Town in Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian province. (People's Daily Online/Wang Wangwang)

Hangzhou News, operated by east China's Zhejiang province's Hangzhou Culture, Radio and Television Group, has integrated AI-powered virtual anchors into its programming, reporting zero operational errors during broadcasts, sparking discussions on intelligent media innovation.

A "virtual human" denotes a digitally engineered entity replicating anthropomorphic traits within non-corporeal environments. Accelerated by advancements in 5G networks, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality technologies, these constructs now exhibit heightened perceptual and analytical capabilities, permeating quotidian societal functions with growing sophistication.

Hangzhou News has deployed six such AI news presenters, engineered with uncanny human verisimilitude in facial micro-expressions and kinetic fluidity.

Following an intensive data acquisition and algorithmic calibration phase, these AI anchors now execute live news delivery with operational reliability, enabling human counterparts to temporarily step down during peak leave periods without disrupting output.

Liu Yuchen, an anchor at Hangzhou News, disclosed that her digital simulacrum "Xiaoyu" employs DeepSeek-V3 architecture, endowing it with multimodal capacities spanning natural language processing, teleprompter narration, and automated editorial functions including script vetting and source aggregation.

A medical worker at Bishan Hospital of Chongqing Medical University instructs patients in utilizing an AI digital physician service to address medical inquiries. (People's Daily Online/Hu Yuejian)

Media analysts note virtual presenters have transitioned from experimental applications in streaming platforms and digital-first media to institutionalized roles within television's daily programming cadence.

Wu Suoning, a member of the expert advisory committee of the Internet Society of China, observed that AI-driven anthropomorphic systems now constitute a transformative vector within China's media ecosystems, operationalizing what industry protocols term "human-AI collaboration."

Under this framework, articulated Wu, automated precision in standardized content generation—spanning meteorological bulletins and rapid incident dispatches—allows journalistic resources to be strategically allocated to creative domains: in-depth narrative construction and critical analysis.

The analyst projected that evolutionary leaps in large models' cognitive architectures, particularly in inferential reasoning and self-optimizing operational parameters, will catalyze digital correspondents' capacity for adaptive interactivity and customization. Such advancements, he said, are poised to reconfigure content supply chains through efficient production systems and targeted distribution mechanisms.

Beyond conventional broadcast domains, synthetic media entities are gaining traction within China's real-time digital commerce ecosystems.

AI anchors host Hangzhou News. (Screenshot of the news program)

During seasonal demand peaks such as the Spring Festival, brands increasingly deploy digital human hosts — modeled after commercial ambassadors — to circumvent operational bottlenecks. Industry analyses indicate scarcity and cost inflation among skilled human anchors during high-volume periods, prompting adoption of algorithmic alternatives. These AI-driven proxies reportedly reduce expenditure while sustaining 24/7 operational cadences, mitigating fatigue-related inefficiencies inherent to human presenters.

Integrated neural language frameworks enable real-time semantic parsing, automating customer query resolution while optimizing engagement through predictive interaction protocols.

Technical specifications from Baidu-affiliated digital anthropomorphism developers outline a streamlined synthesis pipeline: biometric training via 3-40 minute source footage, followed by script automation and kinematic synchronization protocols. Post-configuration, avatars achieve audiovisual congruence in lip articulation, prosody, and gesture—approximating human-presented broadcasts at scale.

Industry diagnosticians note that while synthetic presenters demonstrate superior cost efficiencies and creative scalability, they remain deficient in the nuanced adaptability of organic interlocutors—particularly in managing intricate discursive exchanges. Industry diagnosticians stress that such synthetic systems still require extensive algorithmic refinements. Concurrently, debates surrounding privacy protection, data security, and ethical issues persist as critical impediments to sectoral maturation.

Currently, virtual idols, virtual hosts, and digital employees constitute the most popular implementations of anthropomorphic AI. Analytical projections from the inaugural China Digital Human Conference in 2024 indicate the nation's core virtual human sector will attain 48.06 billion yuan ($6.6 billion) by 2025, with peripheral ecosystem valuations forecast to expand to 640.27 billion yuan.