Channel 4 has announced that this year's Alternative Christmas Message will be delivered by an Artificial Intelligence robot called Ameca.
Broadcast on Christmas Day since 1993, C4's speech is a counterweight to the monarch's traditional message and is often delivered by a figure with a point to make on social issues or the state of the world.
Previous presenters have included the President of Iran, Quentin Crisp, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, John Bercow and child survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire.
Ameca - developed by Engineered Arts, a British company based in Cornwall - is one of the world's most advanced robots and her speech has been delivered entirely through AI, with no human intervention or correction.
Ian Katz, C4's chief content officer, said: "As we look to a future in which Artificial Intelligence is set to have an increasingly prominent role in our lives, Ameca's Alternative Christmas Message is a vivid illustration of both the power and limitations of this technology.
"Despite Ameca's remarkably lifelike facial expressions, I suspect most viewers will come away reassured that humans are not about to be displaced by AI robots any time soon."
Channel 4's Alternative Christmas Message will air on Christmas Day at 5.25pm.
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