An AI chatbot just became a resident of Japan

A chatbot programmed to be a seven-year-old boy has become the first AI bot to be granted official residence in Tokyo, Japan. Shibuya Mirai is the latest resident of Shibuya, a Tokyo ward with a population of around 224,000 people, despite only existing as a chatbot on the Line messaging app. The ward's decision to make Mirai--meaning'future' in Japanese--an official resident is part of a project aimed at making the local government more familiar and accessible to locals. The chatty seven-year-old is designed to listen to the opinions of Shibuya residents. "His hobbies are taking pictures and observing people," Shibuya Ward said in a statement seen by the AFP news agency.