Pyeongchang (People's Daily) - Artificial intelligence (AI) will join Beijing 2022's eight-minute spot at the closing ceremony of the Pyeongchang Olympics, director Zhang Yimou said Saturday.
"AI will join the performers at the closing ceremony," said Zhang, who is the mastermind behind Beijing's performance at the closing ceremony. "It will feature our invitation to the world to come to the 2022 Winter Olympic Games through modern technology."
The director, who was also the man at the helm for the opening and closing ceremonies in the 2008 Summer Olympics, said the show will be very "colorful", but declined to elaborate as it is still a "secret".
"I think it will be totally different from the expectations of the audience," Zhang said. "It is a unique aspect to put an AI performance into the show."
The Beijing 2022 organizing committee has launched a mini-app on the social media platform WeChat to collect voice messages in invitation to the world for the 2022 Winter Games.
It has received more than 60 million messages to date, Zhang said. Selected clips will be presented during the show.
Zhang said he accepted the "mission" about one year ago – when he was producing a movie – with a specific plan for the show planned since last October.
The only thing concerning Zhang is the weather on Sunday night, Pyeongchang is often colder and more windy than Gangneung, where the performers have their final preparations for the show.
"My only concern is about the weather; I hope it won't be too windy," he noted.
