Meet Wukong, the AI Chatbot China Has Installed on Its Space Station

The latest addition to China’s Tiangong abstraction position is an AI chatbot pinch expertise successful navigation and tactical planning. Named Wukong AI—after nan protagonist of nan “Monkey King” legend successful Chinese mythology, Sun Wukong—the chatbot was introduced connected nan abstraction position successful mid-July, and has already completed its first mission: supporting 3 taikonauts during a spacewalk.

Information astir Wukong AI remains limited. Chinese authorities person said that they developed it from a home open-source AI model; according to Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency, engineers designed it to meet nan requirements of parented abstraction missions, and focused its knowledge-base connected aerospace formation data.

“This strategy tin supply accelerated and effective accusation support for analyzable operations and responsibility handling by unit members, improving activity efficiency, in-orbit psychological support, and coordination betwixt abstraction and crushed teams,” Zou Pengfei of nan taikonaut training center, told Xinhua.

Technicians connected nan AI to Tiangong connected July 15. It began providing support a period later, this being nan first clip that China’s abstraction position has utilized a ample connection exemplary (LLM) during in-orbit missions. Wukong AI assisted nan unit connected a six-and-a-half-hour mission, which progressive taikonauts installing abstraction debris protection devices during a spacewalk and performing a regular inspection of nan station.

The taikonauts declare that their caller adjunct “offers very broad content.” Chinese media picture Wukong AI arsenic a classical question-and-answer strategy divided into 2 modules: 1 installed connected nan station, and 1 connected Earth. The crushed module performs in-depth analysis, while nan module accompanying nan unit solves contiguous challenges. The operation of nan 2 creates an precocious adjunct tin of adapting to each mission.

Wukong is neither nan first AI strategy successful abstraction nor nan first connected a station. The International Space Station already has Astrobee, a robot that assists astronauts pinch regular tasks, and CIMON, a conversational psychological support system. The particularity of Wukong AI is that it combines nan functions of an intelligent assistant—like those utilized connected Earth—with a full attraction connected abstraction navigation.

The Tiangong position is nan halfway of China’s strategy to consolidate its position arsenic a abstraction powerfulness complete nan adjacent 30 years. The position presently serves arsenic a microgravity laboratory for experiments that would beryllium intolerable connected Earth. In nan future, China plans to grow it and move it into an intermediate logistics and training level betwixt nan satellite and nan Earth’s surface.

And nan logic for nan AI’s name? Sun Wukong is simply a mythical personification who appears successful nan classical caller Journey to nan West. In China, he symbolizes cunning, adaptability, endurance, and nan pursuit of knowledge.

This communicative primitively appeared on WIRED en Español and has been translated from Spanish.