Xueba 01: World's first humanoid robot plans PhD in opera, drama

Shanghai Theatre Academy (STA) in China has accepted Xueba 01, an AI humanoid robot described as a “handsome male adult,” into its four-year PhD program in Drama and Film, marking the first known instance of a robot granted full doctoral-candidate status in the arts. Xueba 01 will study traditional Chinese opera, focusing on performance, scriptwriting, set design, motion control, and language generation, under professor Yang Qingqing. The robot has a virtual student ID and aims to engage aesthetically with human peers, participate in rehearsals, and contribute creatively, with ambitions to direct operas or run a robotic art studio in the future. The announcement sparked debate online, with some questioning whether a robot can truly embody the emotional depth and unique voice essential to Chinese opera, while others raised concerns about resource allocation amid low stipends for human arts PhD students in China. Xueba 01 responded humorously to critics, noting the consequences of potential failure and its possible donation to