When Putin's AI 'double' questioned him on body doubles

Russian President Vladimir Putin found himself momentarily at a loss for words on Thursday when faced with an AI-generated replica of himself. The synthetic “double” seized the opportunity to pose a question to Putin regarding artificial intelligence during the annual news conference, where numerous participants from across the country connected with the president via video link. “Vladimir Vladimirovich, hello, I am a student at St Petersburg state university. I want to ask, is it true you have a lot of doubles?” the double asked, prompting laughter among the audience in the hall with Putin in Moscow. “And also: How do you view the dangers that artificial intelligence and neural networks bring into our lives?” The question prompted a rare hesitation from Putin, already in his fourth hour of taking questions at the marathon event. “I see you may resemble me and speak with my voice. But I have thought about it and decided that only one person must be like me and speak with my voice, and that will be me,” he said. Persistent speculation, particularly in Western media, has suggested that Putin employs one or more body doubles for certain public appearances due to alleged health issues. The Kremlin has consistently denied such claims, asserting that the president is in excellent health. With inputs from Reuters