China introduces the first AI chatbot to assist taikonauts on missions inside the space station

An AI chatbot created to assist taikonauts during in-orbit missions has joined the Chinese astronauts on board the Tiangong space station.

The popular character Sun Wukong, who appears in the legendary Chinese tale of the “Monkey King,” inspired the name of the chatbot, Wukong AI. It is claimed that the character embodies traits like guile, flexibility, perseverance, and the desire to learn.

Wukong AI was created to help taikonauts with tactical planning and navigation. After going live aboard the space station last month, the chatbot has already supported three taikonauts during a spacewalk, marking the completion of its maiden space mission.

Xinhua, china‘s state news agency, quoted Zou Pengfei of the taikonaut training center as saying, “This system can provide rapid and effective information support for complex operations and fault handling by crew members, improving work efficiency, in-orbit psychological support, and coordination between space and ground teams.”

China’s Tiangong space station, which is said to be essential to the nation’s space aspirations, is introducing a large language model (llm) for the first time. It occurs at a time when South Asian nations, especially India, are becoming more competitive in the space race. Following similar announcements from Russia and China, the US space agency NASA has expedited its plans to construct a nuclear reactor on the moon.

What is our understanding of Wukong AI?

One way to characterize Wukong AI is as a conventional question-and-answer LLM. There are two modules in it. The chatbot’s ground module on Earth is intended to conduct in-depth study, while another module is placed aboard the space station to assist the crew in resolving different problems. According to reports, the two components work together to provide the chatbot the ability to function as a sophisticated AI assistant that “offers very comprehensive content” and adjusts to every space trip.

There are few other information available regarding the development of the AI chatbot, but according to sources from the Xinhua news agency, Wukong was constructed using a domestic “open-source” AI model.

Wukong AI reportedly provided assistance to the crew of the Tiangong station during a six-and-a-half-hour mission, which involved taikonauts taking a spacewalk, installing space debris protection devices, and performing a routine inspection of the station.

China’s space station reportedly doubles as a microgravity laboratory for experiments that would be impossible on Earth. It also has plans to use the space station for intermediate logistics and training in the future.