Designed in China: Part Three Click

played tributes on war graves. Lots more as always on our website, and

Ben Bland will be here at the top of the hour.

This week we are back in China with robots promoted to waiters and

monks. Our journey through China has taken

us across this vast country. From badminton smashes

to smashing bridges. It's a fascinating place,

hungry for success. But there's one subject

you can't avoid here. People can't do what they want,

say what they want, The government controls the media

here and it tries is hardest to lock And if you go online here,

you hit a massive obstruction. It is a filter that blocks access

to sites, apps and search terms considered contrary to Chinese

values, and that includes Facebook and Twitter,

and all Google services, including Gmail and

even the home page. Hong Kong publisher,

Bal Pu knows more about Chinese Son of ex-high-ranking Chinese

official, now dissident, Bal Tong, he's released a whole host of books

that take a critical look at the politics

of the Chinese state. The books are banned

in mainland China. The Great Firewall, in its essence,

is the Great Firewall of the mind. The firewall will last as long

as the regime lasts, as long as the impulses of control

for the Government last and work. If it doesn't work in the short run,

it works in the long run. Because it blocks certain

information, and for people who are actually not knowing

this information ever As a foreigner, you might

not actually notice We've been out and about, roaming

on our smartphones, and I've been getting all of my Gmails,

tweets and all my Facebook updates. But if you log your device

onto a local Wi-Fi service, that's when you start to see

the Internet as the Chinese do. Updates don't load,

websites become unavailable. It turns out that though,

not to be a huge problem. We've been accessing

services through a VPN, How it works is that they give

you access to a server somewhere else in the world,

somewhere outside China So, I've got a phone

here which is logged on to Chinese Wi-Fi, and as you can

see, things just aren't However, things are starting to get

a little more dark. Chinese citizens are being

encouraged to report on each other online, looking for inappropriate

content like politically Private messaging is being monitored

and your digital footprint, what you do online and who you talk

to, could start to automatically affect you getting a job

or getting access to credit. Dan Simmons reports

from the city of Shanghai. Just as big Chinese cities start

to look more like Western ones, each day, so like in the West,

the Chinese equivalents of Facebook and eBay are getting

to know their users even better. Wandering round this metropolis,

it's easy to feel very at home. But it's also really easy to forget

that you could be being watched. Wii Chat has become a sort

of WhatsApp and Facebook But while WhatsApp messages

are encrypted to stop snooping, it's a very different story on Wii

Chat. You know, day-to-day message,

and we do video calls, Actually, we do everything,

including payment. I mean, everybody knows

we're being watched, If this were a student protest,

it would only take about less than one day for the Government

to find out and then it I sort of understand

that the Government is trying to block some things to maintain

the so-called harmony, or social stability,

but I feel that it's our right to know what's happening out there,

and it's our right to have our own judgment on stuff

that is a threat to us. Certain accounts that

post too many things that the Government doesn't approve

of will be blocked forever. Being watched is one thing,

but Shangue says that, increasingly, One of my roommates, actually,

is a part of the team, so he received a message

from his leader saying that you should do this

and you should do that, So, you have university students

spying on other university students? And reporting them

to the Government? Yes.

That's correct. Wii Chat's move into being

a purchasing platform, as well as a social one,

means they have each user's buying And that mixing of the social

and financial is a cause The pressure group Privacy

International says that it's worried about a new development in China

called Sesame Credit. How would you feel if

the information you were sharing on social media, all communications

you are having with your partner impacted the chances of you getting

credit, and essentially the chances of you getting a nicer house,

and nicer car, having your kids go Would you be willing,

or would you even be able to change behaviour and comply

with such a system? Sesame Credit was created last year,

not by the big banks, but by China's shopping equivalent to eBay,

Alibaba and ANDE financial services. This online video suggests

that your social accounts and who you are friends

with could affect your access to credit, mortgages

and even some jobs. Under this game, each

user is given a score, a number that, if high enough,

could be used for preferential treatment at Marriot hotels

and Hertz cars, amongst others. And in the future, it's likely to be

recognised much more widely. So, I find out, ooh!

I got a high score. So, I'm proud of that

and show my friends, There is so many incentives built

into this system from a psychological level,

from a competitive level, The reason that it is self-policing

is because there are so much Maybe go to make more friends,

make more good-quality friends. The idea that people

pick their friends, or change their on-line

behaviour in pursuit of a high score is challenged

by Sesame Credit's creators. They told us that they currently

have no intention of tracking any non-consumption activities

of our users. And there's no evidence

to the contrary, but This government document states

China's intentions of having credit scores partly based on news media,

that blacklists should be widely publicised with an overall aim

to categorise credit scores. So some feel proud, and lower

scorers learn to change I'm off to see a seasoned

international journalist He believes it's just a matter

of time before schemes like Sesame Credit do start

to use social media. We invited Tencents, the owners

of Wii Chat, to talk to us about online surveillance and credit

scores but they didn't reply to us. The Chinese credit rating system

for individuals is very young. Social credit scores,

as they are being called, could see the blending of financial

and social information, be it judging our posts

or friendship groups So, it's likely that the credit

for introducing new rules governing people's access to money,

and perhaps other life opportunities will go to China's biggest tech

companies rather than its banks. And here's another quirky thing

I haven't seen before. I keep getting these

Chinese text messages Now, I thought they were saying

things like, welcome to such and such, but they are actually spam

texts offering you a massage But I wondered, how do

they know my number? Only the mobile network should know

that my mobile number is currently in China and they wouldn't be

spamming me, would they? Well, it turns out that there

is a scam going on here. People can set up fake mobile cells,

so you can get these little black boxes that you can buy, and they

pose as a mobile cell tower. People drive around the city

and your phone hops onto that cell, They get your phone number

and they send you a Authorities say it could provide

greater clarity on potential criminal connections. Fed up with

unloading the dishwasher? You are apparently not the only one. If only

there was a robot dog that could help. This has been well house

trained to deal with a dirty dishes, and its makers say that having

stretched from hydraulics to electric, it is one of the quietest

robots have ever built. Now just has to keep up the good work. Finally,

if you are determined to get the last bit out of your soap and

shampoo bottles, you are going to love this. Ohio University have

created a bottle that allows you to empty every last drop. It involves

lining a bottle with nano particles, creating air pockets so the soap

never quite touches the container. Now, we're going to see how

an interesting robot is being built But first, we asked LJ

Rich, back in the UK, how hard it is to actually

build one yourself. I'm building a MeArm,

an affordable robot arm that just needs a screwdriver

and time to put together. It's the result of a Crowdfunded

project that made nearly So, imagine being plunged

into a really complex version It's fun, even though

the instructions for the new model are still a bit rough

around the edges. And it's a great way to learn

how servos those work But why stop at just

one robot to play with? Why not get a job

somewhere like here? This is the "Body in White" area,

containing around 1,200 robot arms. It's where the metal parts

of the car get put together At full whack, this plant can make

up to 1000 units per day. These robots are so big and strong

they have to work in cages. Each one costs about ?20,000,

that's around $30,000, but there are additional software

programming costs on top of that. These robots use laser sensors

to align parts before fixing them and have to be accurate to half

a width of a human hair. Robot expert and fast walker,

Tom Bradford, has worked He's been here so long he saw

the first robots start work here, and it's all this eye candy,

he tells me what's next. There is a move, I'm sure,

in the future, to make robots So, we see down here,

a pair that are on what we They are on a track

like a short railway line. They can move backwards

and forwards. But I can see a time

where they'd just be skating around on the floor,

in two dimensions, to take short cuts between points

and things like this. You can't train easily a robot

to look for a fault that is It really is a problem,

so, you have to... There's a lot of good reason why

people are still involved They are a lot better,

perhaps, at doing things I brought the MeArm to meet

its biggest siblings, and showed it to Tom

and robot trainer, Martin. Because the interface is quite

simple, it's surprisingly difficult compared to programming those,

because you've got so many options of speed and how you want it

programmed and setup. You don't have this

kind of on-off nature. But for practising and understanding

the principles, it's We are in the rarely-filmed

robot experimenting area, where these majestic, metallic

machines are tested and programmed. Just like my little robot,

these bigger machines work both Yours goes a little

bit faster than mine! If anything,

visiting this factory and building my own robot arm

shows me the rise of the machines Even with machine learning

getting more sophisticated, humans still bring autonomy

and adaptation into the mix, And now back to China to see how one

company is hoping to bridge the gap This factory may not be much to look

out from the outside, but as has often been the case

in our visit to China, Surprising technological

treasures lurk inside. They've become rather famous

for making robot waiters and waitresses for restaurants

all over the country. And they also make industrial robots

that play "Fur Elise". I have to say this seems to be

the standard warning tune in many We are waiting for a different part

of the market for China. Each robot costs about $7,000

and can be made in a couple of days out of the parts

here in the factory. The robots are programmed

to move around on a track. Right now, the robots are most

likely to be found in restaurants But in the future, the plan

is for them to be able to pour This new robot uses a six direction

hand to pour a drink, Instead, it will move using a stored

map to find its way around. It's a bit controversial,

but the team here believes that the robots will serve

an important role in society, taking away jobs, they say,

that some people don't want to do. So, how are these bots getting

on in the real world so far? Well, we sent Click's boss,

Simon Hancock, down to a local restaurant where one of the robots

is employed as a waiter. I'm not sure how many jobs

this robot will remove. It seems like you need more people

than you would do normally. So, it may be a few years before

humans are overtaken by robots, Well, it's nearly time for us

to leave China, but, before we do, here's Jen Copestake with some monks

who've built some robots, This was the last place

we expected to find a robot The Longquan Temple

was built at the foot north-west of Beijing,

a thousand years ago and the site Underneath this bridge is said

to live a Golden dragon, and in this ancient ginkgo

is rumoured to be an old man with a white beard,

who is a God of the tree. Buddhism is an ancient tradition

that forms the spiritual practice And the monks here are hoping to use

technology to promote their beliefs to many more,

through an extremely cute robot. Xian'er's name actually means

'Stupid, virtuous one.' But he's Through the touch screen held

on his tummy, he can answer simple voice commands and answer up to 100

questions about Buddhism. He's happy to have a conversation

about various deep topics... The master has just asked

the robot monk where And he says, even human beings

cannot answer this question. The robot monk has got

some sensitive parts. The master showed me around

the grounds where they grow their own food, and have a high-tech

library as well as a lower tech one. The temple is gaining a reputation

as being a high-tech monastery. Some of the monks here have degrees

in computer science. The main master monk

was the first in mainland China to start an internet blog,

and at least one monk is rumoured The robot is based on a cartoon

the monks created in the temple and is the subject of several

bestselling books in Asia. This studio is where volunteers

create stop-motion animation about his life, using these dough

figurines made from flour. We also use this editing system

at the BBC. It might help if I pick up my

Chinese language skills before volunteering. Concubine. Close

enough! I was surprised to find such

as sophisticated stop-motion studio operating at the heart of the temple

with so many volunteers. But it was the volunteers

that drove the creation He was designed by technology

companies in China who donated their expertise and time to help

promote Buddhism in a high-tech way. They are already working

on an updated version. I wish that we could

communicate in English. I hope you found it as fascinating

as we have. Next week, we are on the opposite

side of the world in Follow us on Twitter for all

the backstage action at Click.