Dharma Dispatch, 14-25 May 2018: China’s Robot Monk Upgrade, Sino-Japanese Ecumenical Dialogue, and Pollution on the Roof of the World

Good morning! Two tech companies in China have been brought on board to upgrade Xian’er, a robot monk who can follow simple instructions, recite scriptures, and play Buddhist music, with a more modern feature set. Xian’er is the diminutive robotic member of Longquan monastery’s sangha in the outskirts of Beijing. He became an instant hit following […]