Russia is still known for a great deal of innovative programming, but one area where there is concern it is falling behind is in AI. Judging by Vladimir Putin’s New Year’s Eve address, there are no grounds to worry, as this year’s was of a such blandness that it could have been generated by a large language model.

Everything felt much more low-energy in Putin’s address than previous years, from rhetoric to delivery

In his 1999 New Year’s speech, former president Boris Yeltsin made the shock announcement that he was standing down, and his recently-appointed prime minister, the relatively unknown Vladimir Putin, would become acting head of state.

We haven’t seen any such excitement since, but in fairness, this is a brief ‘father of the nation’ address, pre-recorded and screened locally as each of the country’s 11 time zones nears midnight’s chimes from the Kremlin bells and then the national anthem. It is hardly the place for detailed policy discussion, especially after the four-and-a-half-hour press........

© The Spectator