:00:00. > :00:09.played tributes on war graves. Lots more as always on our website, and
:00:10. > :00:13.Ben Bland will be here at the top of the hour.
:00:14. > :00:18.This week we are back in China with robots promoted to waiters and
:00:19. > :00:56.monks. Our journey through China has taken
:00:57. > :00:58.us across this vast country. From badminton smashes
:00:59. > :01:15.to smashing bridges. It's a fascinating place,
:01:16. > :01:20.hungry for success. But there's one subject
:01:21. > :01:30.you can't avoid here. People can't do what they want,
:01:31. > :01:35.say what they want, The government controls the media
:01:36. > :01:45.here and it tries is hardest to lock And if you go online here,
:01:46. > :01:49.you hit a massive obstruction. It is a filter that blocks access
:01:50. > :02:00.to sites, apps and search terms considered contrary to Chinese
:02:01. > :02:02.values, and that includes Facebook and Twitter,
:02:03. > :02:12.and all Google services, including Gmail and
:02:13. > :02:16.even the home page. Hong Kong publisher,
:02:17. > :02:18.Bal Pu knows more about Chinese Son of ex-high-ranking Chinese
:02:19. > :02:22.official, now dissident, Bal Tong, he's released a whole host of books
:02:23. > :02:25.that take a critical look at the politics
:02:26. > :02:27.of the Chinese state. The books are banned
:02:28. > :02:31.in mainland China. The Great Firewall, in its essence,
:02:32. > :02:35.is the Great Firewall of the mind. The firewall will last as long
:02:36. > :02:40.as the regime lasts, as long as the impulses of control
:02:41. > :02:43.for the Government last and work. If it doesn't work in the short run,
:02:44. > :02:52.it works in the long run. Because it blocks certain
:02:53. > :02:54.information, and for people who are actually not knowing
:02:55. > :02:56.this information ever As a foreigner, you might
:02:57. > :03:09.not actually notice We've been out and about, roaming
:03:10. > :03:14.on our smartphones, and I've been getting all of my Gmails,
:03:15. > :03:16.tweets and all my Facebook updates. But if you log your device
:03:17. > :03:19.onto a local Wi-Fi service, that's when you start to see
:03:20. > :03:29.the Internet as the Chinese do. Updates don't load,
:03:30. > :03:31.websites become unavailable. It turns out that though,
:03:32. > :03:34.not to be a huge problem. We've been accessing
:03:35. > :03:36.services through a VPN, How it works is that they give
:03:37. > :03:39.you access to a server somewhere else in the world,
:03:40. > :03:41.somewhere outside China So, I've got a phone
:03:42. > :03:47.here which is logged on to Chinese Wi-Fi, and as you can
:03:48. > :03:53.see, things just aren't However, things are starting to get
:03:54. > :04:15.a little more dark. Chinese citizens are being
:04:16. > :04:17.encouraged to report on each other online, looking for inappropriate
:04:18. > :04:19.content like politically Private messaging is being monitored
:04:20. > :04:24.and your digital footprint, what you do online and who you talk
:04:25. > :04:27.to, could start to automatically affect you getting a job
:04:28. > :04:36.or getting access to credit. Dan Simmons reports
:04:37. > :04:46.from the city of Shanghai. Just as big Chinese cities start
:04:47. > :04:49.to look more like Western ones, each day, so like in the West,
:04:50. > :04:52.the Chinese equivalents of Facebook and eBay are getting
:04:53. > :04:54.to know their users even better. Wandering round this metropolis,
:04:55. > :04:57.it's easy to feel very at home. But it's also really easy to forget
:04:58. > :05:09.that you could be being watched. Wii Chat has become a sort
:05:10. > :05:16.of WhatsApp and Facebook But while WhatsApp messages
:05:17. > :05:29.are encrypted to stop snooping, it's a very different story on Wii
:05:30. > :05:31.Chat. You know, day-to-day message,
:05:32. > :05:36.and we do video calls, Actually, we do everything,
:05:37. > :05:40.including payment. I mean, everybody knows
:05:41. > :05:44.we're being watched, If this were a student protest,
:05:45. > :05:47.it would only take about less than one day for the Government
:05:48. > :05:50.to find out and then it I sort of understand
:05:51. > :06:03.that the Government is trying to block some things to maintain
:06:04. > :06:05.the so-called harmony, or social stability,
:06:06. > :06:08.but I feel that it's our right to know what's happening out there,
:06:09. > :06:10.and it's our right to have our own judgment on stuff
:06:11. > :06:13.that is a threat to us. Certain accounts that
:06:14. > :06:15.post too many things that the Government doesn't approve
:06:16. > :06:39.of will be blocked forever. Being watched is one thing,
:06:40. > :06:41.but Shangue says that, increasingly, One of my roommates, actually,
:06:42. > :06:45.is a part of the team, so he received a message
:06:46. > :06:48.from his leader saying that you should do this
:06:49. > :06:50.and you should do that, So, you have university students
:06:51. > :06:55.spying on other university students? And reporting them
:06:56. > :06:57.to the Government? Yes.
:06:58. > :06:59.That's correct. Wii Chat's move into being
:07:00. > :07:02.a purchasing platform, as well as a social one,
:07:03. > :07:04.means they have each user's buying And that mixing of the social
:07:05. > :07:19.and financial is a cause The pressure group Privacy
:07:20. > :07:22.International says that it's worried about a new development in China
:07:23. > :07:25.called Sesame Credit. How would you feel if
:07:26. > :07:27.the information you were sharing on social media, all communications
:07:28. > :07:30.you are having with your partner impacted the chances of you getting
:07:31. > :07:33.credit, and essentially the chances of you getting a nicer house,
:07:34. > :07:36.and nicer car, having your kids go Would you be willing,
:07:37. > :07:42.or would you even be able to change behaviour and comply
:07:43. > :07:50.with such a system? Sesame Credit was created last year,
:07:51. > :07:54.not by the big banks, but by China's shopping equivalent to eBay,
:07:55. > :07:56.Alibaba and ANDE financial services. This online video suggests
:07:57. > :07:58.that your social accounts and who you are friends
:07:59. > :08:00.with could affect your access to credit, mortgages
:08:01. > :08:05.and even some jobs. Under this game, each
:08:06. > :08:08.user is given a score, a number that, if high enough,
:08:09. > :08:11.could be used for preferential treatment at Marriot hotels
:08:12. > :08:13.and Hertz cars, amongst others. And in the future, it's likely to be
:08:14. > :08:25.recognised much more widely. So, I find out, ooh!
:08:26. > :08:28.I got a high score. So, I'm proud of that
:08:29. > :08:35.and show my friends, There is so many incentives built
:08:36. > :08:39.into this system from a psychological level,
:08:40. > :08:41.from a competitive level, The reason that it is self-policing
:08:42. > :08:46.is because there are so much Maybe go to make more friends,
:08:47. > :08:57.make more good-quality friends. The idea that people
:08:58. > :09:09.pick their friends, or change their on-line
:09:10. > :09:11.behaviour in pursuit of a high score is challenged
:09:12. > :09:13.by Sesame Credit's creators. They told us that they currently
:09:14. > :09:16.have no intention of tracking any non-consumption activities
:09:17. > :09:39.of our users. And there's no evidence
:09:40. > :09:40.to the contrary, but This government document states
:09:41. > :09:44.China's intentions of having credit scores partly based on news media,
:09:45. > :09:47.that blacklists should be widely publicised with an overall aim
:09:48. > :09:49.to categorise credit scores. So some feel proud, and lower
:09:50. > :09:51.scorers learn to change I'm off to see a seasoned
:09:52. > :09:54.international journalist He believes it's just a matter
:09:55. > :10:13.of time before schemes like Sesame Credit do start
:10:14. > :10:15.to use social media. We invited Tencents, the owners
:10:16. > :10:18.of Wii Chat, to talk to us about online surveillance and credit
:10:19. > :10:32.scores but they didn't reply to us. The Chinese credit rating system
:10:33. > :10:35.for individuals is very young. Social credit scores,
:10:36. > :10:37.as they are being called, could see the blending of financial
:10:38. > :10:39.and social information, be it judging our posts
:10:40. > :10:41.or friendship groups So, it's likely that the credit
:10:42. > :10:53.for introducing new rules governing people's access to money,
:10:54. > :10:56.and perhaps other life opportunities will go to China's biggest tech
:10:57. > :10:59.companies rather than its banks. And here's another quirky thing
:11:00. > :11:17.I haven't seen before. I keep getting these
:11:18. > :11:19.Chinese text messages Now, I thought they were saying
:11:20. > :11:30.things like, welcome to such and such, but they are actually spam
:11:31. > :11:33.texts offering you a massage But I wondered, how do
:11:34. > :11:37.they know my number? Only the mobile network should know
:11:38. > :11:42.that my mobile number is currently in China and they wouldn't be
:11:43. > :11:48.spamming me, would they? Well, it turns out that there
:11:49. > :11:51.is a scam going on here. People can set up fake mobile cells,
:11:52. > :11:54.so you can get these little black boxes that you can buy, and they
:11:55. > :11:58.pose as a mobile cell tower. People drive around the city
:11:59. > :12:01.and your phone hops onto that cell, They get your phone number
:12:02. > :12:40.and they send you a Authorities say it could provide
:12:41. > :12:45.greater clarity on potential criminal connections. Fed up with
:12:46. > :12:49.unloading the dishwasher? You are apparently not the only one. If only
:12:50. > :12:55.there was a robot dog that could help. This has been well house
:12:56. > :12:57.trained to deal with a dirty dishes, and its makers say that having
:12:58. > :13:03.stretched from hydraulics to electric, it is one of the quietest
:13:04. > :13:09.robots have ever built. Now just has to keep up the good work. Finally,
:13:10. > :13:12.if you are determined to get the last bit out of your soap and
:13:13. > :13:23.shampoo bottles, you are going to love this. Ohio University have
:13:24. > :13:30.created a bottle that allows you to empty every last drop. It involves
:13:31. > :13:32.lining a bottle with nano particles, creating air pockets so the soap
:13:33. > :13:38.never quite touches the container. Now, we're going to see how
:13:39. > :13:41.an interesting robot is being built But first, we asked LJ
:13:42. > :13:46.Rich, back in the UK, how hard it is to actually
:13:47. > :13:57.build one yourself. I'm building a MeArm,
:13:58. > :13:59.an affordable robot arm that just needs a screwdriver
:14:00. > :14:04.and time to put together. It's the result of a Crowdfunded
:14:05. > :14:07.project that made nearly So, imagine being plunged
:14:08. > :14:14.into a really complex version It's fun, even though
:14:15. > :14:24.the instructions for the new model are still a bit rough
:14:25. > :14:28.around the edges. And it's a great way to learn
:14:29. > :14:32.how servos those work But why stop at just
:14:33. > :14:44.one robot to play with? Why not get a job
:14:45. > :14:46.somewhere like here? This is the "Body in White" area,
:14:47. > :14:53.containing around 1,200 robot arms. It's where the metal parts
:14:54. > :14:56.of the car get put together At full whack, this plant can make
:14:57. > :15:02.up to 1000 units per day. These robots are so big and strong
:15:03. > :15:07.they have to work in cages. Each one costs about ?20,000,
:15:08. > :15:11.that's around $30,000, but there are additional software
:15:12. > :15:15.programming costs on top of that. These robots use laser sensors
:15:16. > :15:19.to align parts before fixing them and have to be accurate to half
:15:20. > :15:24.a width of a human hair. Robot expert and fast walker,
:15:25. > :15:26.Tom Bradford, has worked He's been here so long he saw
:15:27. > :15:35.the first robots start work here, and it's all this eye candy,
:15:36. > :15:37.he tells me what's next. There is a move, I'm sure,
:15:38. > :15:41.in the future, to make robots So, we see down here,
:15:42. > :15:50.a pair that are on what we They are on a track
:15:51. > :15:55.like a short railway line. They can move backwards
:15:56. > :15:57.and forwards. But I can see a time
:15:58. > :15:59.where they'd just be skating around on the floor,
:16:00. > :16:02.in two dimensions, to take short cuts between points
:16:03. > :16:04.and things like this. You can't train easily a robot
:16:05. > :16:07.to look for a fault that is It really is a problem,
:16:08. > :16:10.so, you have to... There's a lot of good reason why
:16:11. > :16:13.people are still involved They are a lot better,
:16:14. > :16:17.perhaps, at doing things I brought the MeArm to meet
:16:18. > :16:21.its biggest siblings, and showed it to Tom
:16:22. > :16:23.and robot trainer, Martin. Because the interface is quite
:16:24. > :16:25.simple, it's surprisingly difficult compared to programming those,
:16:26. > :16:28.because you've got so many options of speed and how you want it
:16:29. > :16:34.programmed and setup. You don't have this
:16:35. > :16:39.kind of on-off nature. But for practising and understanding
:16:40. > :16:41.the principles, it's We are in the rarely-filmed
:16:42. > :16:45.robot experimenting area, where these majestic, metallic
:16:46. > :16:50.machines are tested and programmed. Just like my little robot,
:16:51. > :16:52.these bigger machines work both Yours goes a little
:16:53. > :16:58.bit faster than mine! If anything,
:16:59. > :17:00.visiting this factory and building my own robot arm
:17:01. > :17:04.shows me the rise of the machines Even with machine learning
:17:05. > :17:09.getting more sophisticated, humans still bring autonomy
:17:10. > :17:12.and adaptation into the mix, And now back to China to see how one
:17:13. > :17:30.company is hoping to bridge the gap This factory may not be much to look
:17:31. > :17:38.out from the outside, but as has often been the case
:17:39. > :17:41.in our visit to China, Surprising technological
:17:42. > :17:49.treasures lurk inside. They've become rather famous
:17:50. > :17:55.for making robot waiters and waitresses for restaurants
:17:56. > :17:58.all over the country. And they also make industrial robots
:17:59. > :18:07.that play "Fur Elise". I have to say this seems to be
:18:08. > :18:10.the standard warning tune in many We are waiting for a different part
:18:11. > :18:25.of the market for China. Each robot costs about $7,000
:18:26. > :18:29.and can be made in a couple of days out of the parts
:18:30. > :18:32.here in the factory. The robots are programmed
:18:33. > :18:40.to move around on a track. Right now, the robots are most
:18:41. > :18:43.likely to be found in restaurants But in the future, the plan
:18:44. > :18:47.is for them to be able to pour This new robot uses a six direction
:18:48. > :18:52.hand to pour a drink, Instead, it will move using a stored
:18:53. > :18:59.map to find its way around. It's a bit controversial,
:19:00. > :19:01.but the team here believes that the robots will serve
:19:02. > :19:07.an important role in society, taking away jobs, they say,
:19:08. > :19:20.that some people don't want to do. So, how are these bots getting
:19:21. > :19:25.on in the real world so far? Well, we sent Click's boss,
:19:26. > :19:27.Simon Hancock, down to a local restaurant where one of the robots
:19:28. > :19:31.is employed as a waiter. I'm not sure how many jobs
:19:32. > :19:35.this robot will remove. It seems like you need more people
:19:36. > :19:40.than you would do normally. So, it may be a few years before
:19:41. > :19:44.humans are overtaken by robots, Well, it's nearly time for us
:19:45. > :19:52.to leave China, but, before we do, here's Jen Copestake with some monks
:19:53. > :19:55.who've built some robots, This was the last place
:19:56. > :20:10.we expected to find a robot The Longquan Temple
:20:11. > :20:14.was built at the foot north-west of Beijing,
:20:15. > :20:22.a thousand years ago and the site Underneath this bridge is said
:20:23. > :20:25.to live a Golden dragon, and in this ancient ginkgo
:20:26. > :20:28.is rumoured to be an old man with a white beard,
:20:29. > :20:32.who is a God of the tree. Buddhism is an ancient tradition
:20:33. > :20:34.that forms the spiritual practice And the monks here are hoping to use
:20:35. > :20:41.technology to promote their beliefs to many more,
:20:42. > :20:45.through an extremely cute robot. Xian'er's name actually means
:20:46. > :20:55.'Stupid, virtuous one.' But he's Through the touch screen held
:20:56. > :21:05.on his tummy, he can answer simple voice commands and answer up to 100
:21:06. > :21:08.questions about Buddhism. He's happy to have a conversation
:21:09. > :21:11.about various deep topics... The master has just asked
:21:12. > :21:18.the robot monk where And he says, even human beings
:21:19. > :21:25.cannot answer this question. The robot monk has got
:21:26. > :21:27.some sensitive parts. The master showed me around
:21:28. > :22:01.the grounds where they grow their own food, and have a high-tech
:22:02. > :22:09.library as well as a lower tech one. The temple is gaining a reputation
:22:10. > :22:13.as being a high-tech monastery. Some of the monks here have degrees
:22:14. > :22:16.in computer science. The main master monk
:22:17. > :22:20.was the first in mainland China to start an internet blog,
:22:21. > :22:23.and at least one monk is rumoured The robot is based on a cartoon
:22:24. > :22:36.the monks created in the temple and is the subject of several
:22:37. > :22:40.bestselling books in Asia. This studio is where volunteers
:22:41. > :22:45.create stop-motion animation about his life, using these dough
:22:46. > :22:50.figurines made from flour. We also use this editing system
:22:51. > :23:11.at the BBC. It might help if I pick up my
:23:12. > :23:15.Chinese language skills before volunteering. Concubine. Close
:23:16. > :23:16.enough! I was surprised to find such
:23:17. > :23:19.as sophisticated stop-motion studio operating at the heart of the temple
:23:20. > :23:21.with so many volunteers. But it was the volunteers
:23:22. > :23:24.that drove the creation He was designed by technology
:23:25. > :23:35.companies in China who donated their expertise and time to help
:23:36. > :23:38.promote Buddhism in a high-tech way. They are already working
:23:39. > :23:41.on an updated version. I wish that we could
:23:42. > :23:48.communicate in English. I hope you found it as fascinating
:23:49. > :24:02.as we have. Next week, we are on the opposite
:24:03. > :24:05.side of the world in Follow us on Twitter for all
:24:06. > :24:11.the backstage action at Click.