She may look and act like a little girl, but this creepy entity could be the next big discovery in artificial intelligence (AI);

Tong Tong, meaning ‘little girl’, has been named the world’s first artificial intelligence child after it was unveiled by scientists at the Beijing Institute of General Artificial Intelligence (BIGAI).

According to its creators, the “child” can assign itself tasks, learn autonomously and explore its environment.

And while it sounds like the plot of the sci-fi movie The Creator, Tong Tong’s engineers say that the “child” can even experience emotions.

In a video, BIGAI says that Tong Tong “has her own joy, anger and sadness.”

Tong Tong was presented at the Frontiers of General Artificial Intelligence Technology Exhibition held in Beijing at the end of January.

Unlike the AI ​​robots you may have seen in movies like The Terminator, Tong Tong doesn’t have a physical form.

Instead, the AI ​​entity exists and operates within a virtual environment with which it can interact.

Its creators say Tong Tong exhibits the intelligence and abilities of a three- or four-year-old child.

According to a report in the South China Morning Post, visitors to the conference were able to talk to Tong Tong and assign them work.