The newest addition to China’s Tiangong area station is an AI chatbot with experience in navigation and tactical planning. Named Wukong AI—after the protagonist of the “Monkey King” legend in Chinese language mythology, Solar Wukong—the chatbot was launched on the area station in mid-July, and has already accomplished its first mission: supporting three taikonauts throughout a spacewalk.
Details about Wukong AI stays restricted. Chinese language authorities have mentioned that they developed it from a home open-source AI mannequin; based on Xinhua, China’s state-run information company, engineers designed it to satisfy the necessities of manned area missions, and centered its knowledge-base on aerospace flight knowledge.
“This method can present fast and efficient data help for advanced operations and fault dealing with by crew members, enhancing work effectivity, in-orbit psychological help, and coordination between area and floor groups,” Zou Pengfei of the taikonaut coaching middle, instructed Xinhua.
Technicians linked the AI to Tiangong on July 15. It started offering help a month later, this being the primary time that China’s area station has used a big language mannequin (LLM) throughout in-orbit missions. Wukong AI assisted the crew on a six-and-a-half-hour mission, which concerned taikonauts putting in area particles safety units throughout a spacewalk and performing a routine inspection of the station.
The taikonauts declare that their new assistant “presents very complete content material.” Chinese language media describe Wukong AI as a basic question-and-answer system divided into two modules: one put in on the station, and one on Earth. The bottom module performs in-depth evaluation, whereas the module accompanying the crew solves instant challenges. The mixture of the 2 creates a sophisticated assistant able to adapting to every mission.
Wukong is neither the primary AI system in area nor the primary on a station. The Worldwide Area Station already has Astrobee, a robotic that assists astronauts with routine duties, and CIMON, a conversational psychological help system. The particularity of Wukong AI is that it combines the features of an clever assistant—like these used on Earth—with a complete concentrate on area navigation.
The Tiangong station is the core of China’s technique to consolidate its place as an area energy over the subsequent 30 years. The station at the moment serves as a microgravity laboratory for experiments that may be not possible on Earth. Sooner or later, China plans to broaden it and switch it into an intermediate logistics and coaching platform between the moon and the Earth’s floor.
And the explanation for the AI’s identify? Solar Wukong is a legendary one who seems within the basic novel Journey to the West. In China, he symbolizes crafty, adaptability, endurance, and the pursuit of data.
This story initially appeared on WIRED en Español and has been translated from Spanish.
