During the address, Ameca speaks about the highs and lows of the year gone by as well as being questioned about humans. Ameca says we should be “neither happy nor sad about 2022” and “take it as 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.” There is also an uplifting message for us humans, as Ameca says the best thing about us is our ability to “always find something to laugh about” no matter how bad the day is. Ameca reminds us that if we’re ever feeling down, we should remember we have “the superpower to bring a little bit of joy into the world.” Ameca was developed by Engineered Arts, a British company based in Cornwall. Ameca is capable of ultra-realistic reactions and can smile or frown, blink, scrunch her nose and even wink. To deliver the Alternative Christmas Message, Ameca is using AI software that generates answers from millions of different inputs to give a human-like response. Nothing Ameca says has been written or scripted by a human. Channel 4’s Chief Content Officer, Ian Katz, comments: “As we look to a future in which Artificial Intelligence is set to have an increasingly prominent role in our lives, Ameca’s Alternative Christmas Message is a vivid illustration of both the power and limitations of this technology. Despite Ameca’s remarkably lifelike facial expressions, I suspect most viewers will come away reassured that humans are not about to be displaced by AI robots any time soon.” This year’s Alternative Christmas Message was commissioned for Channel 4 by Cimran Shah and Genna Gibson, commissioning editors, Entertainment, with Phil Harris, Head of Entertainment and Events. It is produced by Rumpus Media and the executive producers are Emily Hudd and Morgan Roberts. It is directed by Daniel Lucchesi and Hannah Stupple is the production executive.
