Watch: Shocked Vladimir Putin’s double-take as his AI version confronts him

Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared briefly lost for words on Thursday when confronted with an AI-generated version of himself.

The "double" took the opportunity to a question to Putin about artificial intelligence during an annual news conference where dozens of callers from around the country were hooked up to the president by video link.

"Vladimir Vladimirovich, hello, I am a student at St Petersburg State University. I want to ask, is it true you have a lot of doubles?" the double asked, prompting laughter among the audience in the hall with Putin in Moscow.