The philosophical side of AI

A scene from the documentaryIncredible Encounter: When Socrates Met Confuciusdepicts the two titular philosophers, generated by AI. CHINA DAILY

What if Socrates and Confucius, two of history's most enduring philosophical minds, could sit together and have a conversation?

The question sounds like the beginning of a joke, or perhaps a late-night reverie. But in the documentary, Incredible Encounter: When Socrates Met Confucius, a joint production of China, Greece and the United Kingdom, this seemingly impossible scene has been boldly brought to life using one of the most cutting-edge technologies of the digital era: artificial intelligence.

With a 20-member crew working an entire year and interviewing over 30 scholars, among whom nearly 60 percent are from Europe and the United States, the documentary records the journey to bring the two intellectual giants together across time and space, employing AI to generate their wisdom-filled dialogue.

Earlier this year, the documentary was broadcast in Greece and showcased at multiple influential international events, including MIPCOM Cannes in France, MIP London in the UK, and the Asia TV Forum and Market. Already contracted with a British company that will introduce it into the major global distribution network, the documentary has reached over 300 million viewers overseas, producers revealed during a recent seminar held in Beijing.

Qiu Yuanyuan, producer of the documentary, tells China Daily that the initial idea to create the documentary came from Genius of the Ancient World, a 2015 BBC three-part documentary series in which British historian Bettany Hughes travels to India, Greece and China to explore the lives and times of Buddha, Socrates and Confucius.

"This project juxtaposes these three philosophical sages, exploring how, separated by thousands of kilometers, they coincidentally developed revolutionary ideas during the same period known as the 'Axial Age'. This golden era of human history has deeply fascinated our team, and the idea of making a documentary on the subject began taking root," says Qiu.

Coined by German philosopher Karl Jaspers, the "Axial Age" refers to the period roughly between 800 and 200 BC, when major civilizations simultaneously produced foundational philosophical thinkers.

More interestingly, the documentary's title is inspired by celebrated sculptor Wu Weishan's bronze artwork Divine Encounter — Dialogue Between Confucius and Socrates, which features a pair of bronze statues of the two icons standing side by side in the Ancient Agora of Athens, where Socrates famously held his debates.

Students at Nanjing Fuzimiao (Confucius Temple) Primary School learn from textbooks on Confucius' teachings. CHINA DAILY

In addition, Greek writer Christos Kafteranis' best-selling book, When Socrates Meets Confucius — which pairs 10 ancient Chinese thinkers with 10 ancient Greek philosophers for comparison — has also informed the documentary's structural design.

Other reference classics on the creators' list include The Analects of Confucius, compiled by Confucius' disciples and their followers; the biography of Confucius recorded by Western Han (206 BC-AD 24) historian Sima Qian in the epic Shi Ji (Records of the Grand Historian); and Greek classics such as Great Dialogues of Plato and Xenophon's accounts, according to Qiu, who is also the secretary-general of Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation's Jiangsu International Communication Center.

"Without these important historic and academic resources, any inspiration would be nothing more than a castle in the air," Qiu says.

Resurrecting the two iconic thinkers on screen has been as much a feat of archaeological precision as technological daring.

The creative team traveled to the British Museum, where a Romanera bust of Socrates, believed to have been carved from the descriptions left by his students Plato and Xenophon, underwent high-precision 3D scanning. Half a world away, in Qufu, Shandong province, aerial drones flew around a 72-meter-high bronze statue of Confucius, the largest of its kind.

The mission was never merely to digitize stone and metal but to capture something far more elusive: the faint possibility of a face that could once again speak.

Using the data, AI experts meticulously refined the images, guided by historical portraits and textual clues that Confucius was said to have "a gap between his front teeth"; while Socrates, a "snub nose and thick lips". To breathe intellectual life into the digital shells, the team fed two large language models, each tailored to the way its philosopher would think and speak, with a wealth of historical records and research materials, including archives from the Bodleian Library at Oxford University and the Nanchang Relic Museum for Haihun Principality of Han Dynasty, in Jiangxi province.

Children at Holy Cross Boys' Primary School in Northern Ireland, where the principal uses Socrates' methods to help them understand their emotions. CHINA DAILY

Veteran actors were cast to give voice to the lines: David Yip as Confucius and Kevin McNally as Socrates. Digital compositing technology then precisely matched their voices with their characters' facial expressions and movements.

The meetings of Socrates and Confucius are like a miracle, shining with wisdom. From sitting together on the steps of an ancient white building in Greece to strolling through an alley between ancient Chinese walls, Socrates chats with Confucius.

Their discussions range widely from their lifelong pursuits to the essence of education and to why Socrates accepted the death penalty.

Even after 2,500 years, the documentary reflects how the two giants continue to influence people today, especially the younger generation.

In one sequence, children at a primary school in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, are learning The Analects of Confucius and practicing calligraphy — one of the six arts that formed the basis of education in ancient China. In another, the head of a primary school in Northern Ireland uses Socrates' philosophical ideas to help boys cope with stress and resolve disputes.

Explaining the intention behind these sequences, Qiu says: "We have always believed that ancient philosophical ideas should never be abstract concepts stored on high shelves. The transmission and exchange of civilizations should never be mere theoretical elaboration. Rather, we must let wisdom that spans millennia truly enter contemporary life, creating emotional resonance and intellectual connection with today's audiences."

She adds: "The themes that Confucius and Socrates explored 2,500 years ago — self-cultivation, the pursuit of knowledge and goodness, dealing with the world, and governing society — remain common challenges for society. Their refined wisdom still profoundly shapes our ways of learning, our relationships with others, our value commitments, and our social order."

The early lives of the two great thinkers constitute the human-interest aspect of the project.

Confucius came from a humble background: he lost his father as a child and was raised solely by his mother. Poverty and worldly hardships were important backdrops to his life.

A scene from the documentary shows youngsters visiting the 72-meter-tall Confucius statue in Qufu, Shandong province. CHINA DAILY

As for Socrates, besides his well-known identity as a philosopher, his craftsmanship as a stonemason — following in his father's footsteps — was highly praised at the time. His mother was a midwife, which inspired Socrates to compare himself to a "midwife of the spirit".

With related videos from the documentary released in seven languages, including English, Spanish, French, and German, the producers hope to develop the Incredible Encounter into a franchise, with the second documentary aiming to resurrect Herodotus and Sima Qian, two of the most influential historians from Greece and China, respectively.

Zhu Yannan, president of the China Association of Newspapers and Journals in Radio, Film and Television, describes the documentary as a pioneering work that achieves industry breakthroughs.

"The essential exploration of both Eastern and Western civilizations lies in establishing a reasonable order. Today, the world is undergoing changes unseen in a century, and the collisions in the real world will force us to look back and examine the very origins and development of human civilization," says Zhu. "This documentary has a profound intellectual core, articulating that dialogue is the only right choice for civilizations to coexist."

Leng Song, a scholar at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, suggests that such works — as a result of the rapid emergence of creators skilled in using AI technology — could introduce more AI-generated figures, such as an ordinary Athenian civilian or a disciple of Confucius, to ask the two icons questions as onlookers, thereby offering modern audiences a more resonant perspective.

Veteran actors were cast to give voice to the two characters: David Yip as Confucius, and Kevin McNally as Socrates. CHINA DAILY