Ahead of the Lunar New Year, Alibaba recruited its AI program “ET” to write Spring Festival scrolls for the company's staff at its headquarters in Xixi, Hangzhou. /CFP Photo

The two robot arms, holding Chinese calligraphy brushes, looked awkward but managed to paint Chinese characters in smooth strokes. /CFP Photo

The scrolls were personalised: before it start to write, ET did some “creative meditating”, analyzing the face of each individual, talking with them and analyzing their request. /CFP Photo

It is a common custom in China to affix a set of Spring Festival scrolls - also known as Spring Festival Couplets or Chunlian in Mandarin - on the door during this major Chinese holiday. /CFP Photo

A whole Chunlian set consists of three scrolls: two vertical ones to fix on either side of the door, and a horizontal placed one above it. Scrolls are usually made on red paper and feature lines of poetry. /CFP Photo