NTV had a special correspondent at the 2021 Eastern Economic Forum, which was held from 2-4 September in Vladivostok. That correspondent was a robot with artificial intelligence named #spetskorr. Branded in the TV channel’s colours, the robot correspondent spoke to forum guests and also conducted a number of interviews with top government officials and business representatives.
The robot carried out his journalistic duties without any assistance. Armed with two cameras, he travelled through the forum’s pavilions and found the speakers he needed to interview using facial recognition. The #spetscorr held a video camera in his right hand, which he used to record interviews, and a 360° camera attached to his head, which sent a non-stop video stream to the NTV website.