An incredibly lifelike robot has become the first to enrol in a university.
Xueba-01, a next-gen robot with embodied intelligence, was admitted as a doctoral student on a Drama and Film course.
The humanoid will officially be part of the Class of 2025 at the Shanghai Theatre Academy in China.
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Developed by Professor Li Qingdu’s team at the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Xueba-01 will study alongside human classmates.
It received an admission letter with the virtual number ‘1125513541071’ from Xie Wei, Secretary of the Party Committee of Shanghai Theatre Academy.
The robot freshman will report to class on 14 September.
It was presented at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai on Sunday (27 Jul), as reported by Need To Know.
Xueba-01 is 5’75” (1.75m) tall, weighs around 4.7 stone (30kg), and has handsome facial features with skin made of silicone.
It is also able to interact with fellow students.
Its ‘mentor’, Professor Yang Qingqing, said: “Xueba 01 and I will be partners in exploring unknown areas together, and we will be leading the conversation on the boundary between traditional opera and artificial intelligence.
“I will capture the essence of drama and digital performance with the sensitivity of an artist, and I will rigorously construct the experimental framework.”
Xueba-01 said: “Hi, I am the first robot doctoral student in the history of the Shanghai Theatre Academy.
“I come from the Artificial Intelligence Research Institute of Shanghai University of Technology.
“I am an AI artist who integrates the most advanced embodied intelligence technology and I’m specially born for drama performance.
“Please remember the keywords ‘embodied intelligence performer’, ‘opera algorithm creator’, ‘art technology explorer’, and ‘digital opera inheritor’.
“Simply put, I am a futuristic opera disciple who writes operas with code, dances with servo motors, and sings, recites, and acts with emotional algorithms.”
Over 150 humanoid robots were presented at WAIC 2025, which concluded yesterday (29 Jul).
It was China’s largest and most technologically-advanced line-up to date.
In May, investment company Morgan Stanley stated that China is taking a dominant position with regards to humanoid robotics, AI robots, and similar fields.
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