Local Kyoto Town Mascot Gets Artificial Intelligence

Seika, a town located in the southern part of the Kyoto Prefecture, has a mascot anime girl character named Seika Kyomachi. The mascot is notable for employing various technological innovations in her mission to spread information about the town; she became a Voiceroid character in 2016, her 3D data is open source, and in July she became a Virtual YouTuber. Her latest foray is into artificial intelligence, which would allow her to respond to queries in real time. The "Narikiri AI" (Impersonation AI) project is a collaboration between the city of Seikai and NTT Communication Science Laboratories. The AI will be developed by taking feedback from a small group of users who are knowledgeable about the town and the mascot; they provide sample questions and answers, as well as vote on responses that sound the most in-character for the mascot.