China’s robot monk has lessons on Buddhism

Meet Xian’er - a 60 centimeter robot monk. An ancient Chinese Buddhist temple is taking his help to disseminate wisdom. Xain’er was first developed as a cartoon by Master Xianfan in 2013. The temple published Xian’er comics, sold Xian’er merchandise, and finally with the help of artificial intelligence experts and a technology company, turned him into a robot. The monks here hope Xian’er can help spread the Buddhism’s teachings. Officially, China remains an atheist country, although religion including B