For the first time in history, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has created a digital personality using artificial intelligence technologies to officially comment on consular information for the media.

The MFA representative for consular affairs, Victoria Shi, is based on a real person, Ukrainian singer and influencer Rosalie Nombre, who agreed to participate in the MFA project pro bono and act as a prototype for the representative. The project team filmed and digitized her.

It is important to note that the consular representative and her real-life prototype are two different personalities, and only the digital person Victoria Shi makes official comments on behalf of the MFA's consular service. 

"My name symbolizes our main goal - the Ukraine's victory, and my surname is the artificial intelligence that created me. My job will be to provide the public with timely and verified information from the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. I will provide journalists with news about the work of consuls to protect the rights and interests of Ukrainian citizens abroad, respond to incidents or emergencies, and other news," said Victoria Shi, a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Consular Affairs, in her welcome video message.

Victoria Shi's comments will be published on the official resources of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, its website and social media pages, and will be shared with journalists by the MFA press office.

"Using an AI-generated digital person for consular comments is primarily about saving time and resources for the MFA. Real diplomats will be able to be more effective and focus on other tasks to help citizens," said Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

The Minister also emphasized that the active use of artificial intelligence technologies in the work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not a whim, but a wartime requirement. In order to achieve the results necessary for the country, it is necessary to speed up all processes and be one step ahead.

"The creation of a digital consular representative is part of a broader strategy to systematically implement advanced technologies using artificial intelligence in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. Diplomacy, not only in Ukraine but all over the world, has always been a conservative sphere that was the last to innovate. We are changing this. Ukrainian diplomacy is now strengthening its capabilities and making a technological leap that no other diplomatic service in the world has ever made," the Minister added. 

It is important to note that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also provided several levels of protection for Victoria Shi against digital fakes. Each original video of the consular representative has a QR code that leads to the text version of the same comment on the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In case of absence of such a QR code or transition to any other website, the video is not considered authentic.

In addition, the consular representative is not a replacement for the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. After the expiration of Oleh Nikolenko's term in office, the MFA has already held a competition to fill this vacancy. The winner has now been selected and is undergoing the necessary special procedures.

The project of the consular AI representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine was implemented by the team of the NGO "The Game Changers" with the assistance of the NGO "Nazovni Tech". Earlier, thanks to the partnership with "The Game Changers", the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has already created a successful VR project "Living the War", which immerses foreigners anywhere in the world in the reality of Russian aggression against Ukraine with the help of virtual reality glasses and helps to consolidate support for our country abroad.

We are grateful to our partners from "The Game Changers" and "Nazovni Tech" for their joint work on improving the effectiveness of Ukrainian diplomacy.