28 September 2026 News

Healthcare : At the Fifth Global Digital Trade Expo held in Hangzhou, the “AI Yisheng (AI医生)” system displayed by Zhizhen Keji (智诊科技) aggregated digital avatars of over 2,000 experts, providing real-time consultations and interactions with visitors through large screens, prompting attendees to marvel that “Union Medical Clinic has been installed in a tablet computer.” The consistency between on-site diagnostic recommendations and blind evaluations by expert groups from top-tier hospitals has also been verified. Meanwhile, the clinical digital human high-definition virtual anatomy table system exhibited by Shandong Digihuman Technology Co., Ltd. at Global Digital Trade Expo attracted detailed inquiries from multiple German merchants about research and development details, becoming one of the focal points of Shandong’s medical exhibition delegation. Ai Wo Keji (爱我科技) under Hangzhou Jing Boshi Jituan (静博士集团) made its debut at Global Digital Trade Expo unveiling “MYAI Shengming Zhiliang Zhineng Guanjia (MYAI生命质量智能管家),” proposing the concept of “giving everyone a digital avatar,” constructing users’ digital twins based on three-tier health data of high frequency, mid frequency, and low frequency, and launching four AI housekeepers residing in smartphones that, paired with the “AI wellness carrot” image, provide round-the-clock health companionship. The system operates continuously drawing on real detection data accumulated from 23 years of store service experience.

Ethical Contexts : CCTV’s “Weekly Quality Report” exposed a chaos where AI digital humans impersonated doctors and experts’ images on internet platforms to promote and sell products such as colored contact lenses and medicated plasters. Experts including Li Huaisheng, director of the Cyberlaw Research Institute at China University of Political Science and Law, Zhi Zhenfeng, researcher at the Law Institute of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and Li Xu, associate professor at the School of Life Sciences at University of Science and Technology of China, pointed out that such native AI digital humans lack genuine perception and experience capabilities, and if they express personalized rhetoric such as “personally tested and effective,” they may constitute false advertising. Accountability requires piercing through the advertisers, production institutions, and account operators behind the AI digital humans, and regulatory authorities should also strengthen mandatory labeling and pre-review of AI-generated content. Chao Xinwen (潮新闻) published an article titled “Beware of AI Digital Human Misuse Risks,” warning that elderly populations with limited discernment ability are more susceptible to live-streaming sales traps disguised by “virtual doctors” using AI digital humans, calling for regulatory departments, platforms, and families to jointly build a defensive line. At the academic level, Zhongyangxijuxueyuan (中央戏剧学院) Jin Tian and Beijingtiyudaxue (北京体育大学) Li Lingtao, based on grounded theory, conducted qualitative research on AI virtual hosts such as Xinhuashe (新华社) “Xin Xiaohao,” Yangshi Zongtai (央视总台) “AI Crown,” Zhejiang Television “Gu Xiaoyu,” and Hunanweishi (湖南卫视) “Xiaoyang,” finding that audience acceptance of their “personified” communication depends on three layers of sensory, functional, and emotional cues and social judgments regarding warmth, competence, and authentic responsibility. When anthropomorphic cues are “too similar yet slightly off,” they trigger an uncanny valley-style physiological avoidance. The research recommends that mainstream media, when using AI virtual hosts, should ensure identity transparency, scenario matching, and responsibility accountability.

Entertainment and Cultural Heritage : During the Mid-Autumn Festival period in 2026, AI technology entered large-scale use in galas and cultural tourism scenarios across the Taiwan Strait and Greater China regions. The CCTV Mid-Autumn Gala premiered an all-AI-produced short film titled “The Moon Brightens Tonight—A Thousand-Year Encounter in the Museum,” bringing cultural relics to “life” to meet contemporary audiences across millennia. Chopstick Brothers (Xiao Yang and Wang Taili) reunited after 12 years to perform an original song “Autumn Traveling North and South,” which featured an AI-generated draft subsequently refined through human creative revision, sparking polarized discussions about “whether AI will replace traditional lyricists and composers,” prompting musicians including Chen Chusheng, Hu Yanbin, and Wu Kequn to voice their perspectives. Hunanweishi (湖南卫视) Mid-Autumn Gala featured the digital virtual character “Sun Xiaosheng” (derived from an IP incubated under Hunanweishi (湖南卫视)’s Xiaomang App (小芒App)) performing alongside real artists including Lu Zhuo, Yu Yan, and Huang Yibo, interspersed with national noodle-tasting video clips, generating considerable discussion due to screen time exceeding that of certain celebrity guests. In cultural tourism scenarios, Caixiang Shuyuan (蔡襄书院) at Bridge South Ancient Street in Luojiang District, Quanzhou, Fujian, enabled visitors to engage in cross-temporal dialogue with AI digital humans; Mingtu Technology developed AI digital tour guides to address the limitation of conventional scenic site explanations; Shenzhenshi Wenhuaguan Xinguan (深圳市文化馆新馆) launched virtual ambassador “Wenzhouzhou,” leveraging motion capture and AI large language model technology to deliver practical cultural services including exhibition guidance, activity directions, and online Q&A, and will lead citizens through AR immersive experiences during the inaugural season; at Global Digital Trade Expo, a digital installation artwork from collaboration between Zhejiang Yinyuexueyuan (浙江音乐学院) and Hubeishengbowuguan (湖北省博物馆) enabled the ritual music instruments from the Marquis Yi tomb to “vocalize and be heard”; Qinghuadaxue Yishu Bowuguan (清华大学艺术博物馆)’s “An Evening Banquet of Han Xizai” AI immersive experience exhibition reconstructed banquet spaces through VR and created digital character personas; a digital human interactive experience at the Hubei Film Culture Carnival enabled visitors to generate personalized digital avatar images through photography; Xining, Qinghai’s launch of “Lingguang·New Frame” youth AI film season and national youth AI film co-creation initiative specifically established a digital human competition track soliciting submissions from university students and young creators across the nation.

Celebrity and Personal AI Avatars : Taiwan entertainer Ada has become the first artist to move into the AI interactive application Faiya, creating an AI avatar that can chat with fans online 24 hours a day and has entrusted her private food list to AI Ada for management; Faiya simultaneously collaborated across industries with the film “Zongxie 4: Kundilana,” which exceeded 73 million yuan in box office revenue, with director Liao Shihan, producer Zou Jiezhong, and characters including Kundilana, Aunt Yulan, and Jiamin all transforming into Q-version AI for audience group chat interactions, with the platform’s lineup also including popular IPs such as Luxy Girls Bubble, Claara, and Lao Tiane (老天鹅). After retiring from the screen for 22 years, Athena Chu licensed her AI digital image from her peak years in her twenties and thirties to the mobile game Tianxia (天下) for the first time, with both parties collaborating to film the AI short film “Phantom Shadow,” which recreates the classic role of “Nie Xiaoqian” through digital avatars. Athena Chu emphasized “we use AI, not being used by AI,” with the scope of authorization limited to gaming scenarios only and requiring review by her team. Actress Qi Wei launched her personal official digital avatar “Han Qingxia” in August 2026, which bears high resemblance to her real appearance and stars in the AI micro-drama “Last Summer,” with her stating that taking initiative to set rules is better than passively waiting to be counterfeited. Subsequently, she attended the red carpet at Fashion Bazaar Night wearing a 3D-printed “water flower dress” weighing 16 kilograms, which was so heavy that staff needed to wheel her out of the venue, sparking renewed discussion. The short drama project “Ji Gong: The Fake Dragon Slayer” involving late performing artist and entertainer You Benzhang during his lifetime (produced by Hongguo Duanju (红果短剧), with Beijing Huanxi Dao Ji (北京欢喜道济) responsible for IP development) used digital human technology to restore his image as the young “Ji Gong,” extending the life of this classic character in a way that no longer requires full live-action performance.

Enterprise and Business Applications : SenseTime constructs a multi-modal industrial matrix built on hardcore AI foundations, with its “Ruying Shuzi Ren (如影数字人)” product targeting full-domain marketing scenarios and jointly forming a complete layout from consumer-level terminals to enterprise solutions together with products such as Daima Xiao Huanxiong (代码小浣熊), Miao Hua (秒画), and Seko. During the Shanxi Xian Xiqiao Yunmao Kuajing Dianshang (陕西西安溪桥云贸跨境电商有限公司) opening event, attending representatives visited on-site core functional scenarios including cross-border mini-store operations, AI technology applications, and digital human live streaming, showcasing the entrepreneurial pathway of solo companies under the “AI + cross-border” model. Within Jiangsu Suqian Suchengqu OPC Shequ Kechuang Kongjian (江苏宿迁宿城区OPC社区科创空间), Suqian Fengxing Shuzi Keji (宿迁风行数字科技有限公司) launched the “Kunju AI (鲲炬AI)” system equipping small and medium enterprises with 14 “AI intelligent employees,” among which digital humans in the marketing area are responsible for generating marketing images, short videos, and live broadcast scripts, and support real human image replication and unattended live streaming digital humans that can automatically read scripts, match lip movements, and recognize barrage interactions. Neimenggu Xilinguoleimeng Jiuye Fuwuzhongxin (内蒙古锡林郭勒盟就业服务中心) built the “Jiuye Xilinguolei (就业锡林郭勒)” mini program and coordinated efforts with digital human live streaming rooms, with digital humans continuously updating employment position information every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, while arranging live human Q&A sessions on Thursdays, constructing an “integrated single terminal, multi-terminal linkage” intelligent employment service system.

Public Welfare and Accessibility : Fuzhoushi Longren Xiehui (福州市聋人协会) organized the “Silent Direction·Love Together” inclusive orientation race and Yijing AI sign language accessible experience sharing activity, where large-screen AI digital humans performed simultaneous sign language interpretation, allowing 60 hearing-impaired individuals to directly experience the auxiliary role of artificial intelligence in information communication. Zhejiang Fucai (浙江福彩) launched “Song Fuyun Caicai,” an interactive AI digital human upgraded from a static IP, at the digital entertainment exhibition area of the Fifth Global Global Digital Trade Expo for the first time, where citizens can collect “Five Fortunes” through public welfare challenges by obtaining the “Welfare Pass” and unlock multiple experiences including digital human conversations and AI health check-ups, enhancing the reach and user experience of public welfare communication through a youthful and entertaining digital human format.