Talking Tree Brings Bashkortostan to Life for SPIEF Visitors
At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the Republic of Bashkortostan unveiled an interactive installation powered by artificial intelligence. The Mudroye drevo Shezhere (Wise Shezhere Tree) talks with visitors, shares information about Bashkortostan, and answers specific questions about the region.
The annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) is drawing to a close in St. Petersburg. This year's central theme was “Pragmatic Dialogue as the Path to a Stable Future.” Participants demonstrated a willingness to engage in constructive cooperation amid global uncertainty.
The forum attracted more than 24,000 participants from 144 countries. More than 1,000 agreements have already been signed, with a total value of 6.481 trillion rubles (about $82 billion). Russian regions presented their own exhibition stands, showcasing key achievements and investment opportunities.
A Family Tree That Knows Everything
The Republic of Bashkortostan centered its presentation on a large-scale interactive attraction: a talking tree that appears to know everything about the region, answers virtually any question, and eagerly engages visitors in conversation. The installation combines the traditional cultural symbol of the shezhere, or family tree, with modern technology. In Bashkir culture, the shezhere is linked to genealogical records that preserved the names of ancestors and important information about the lives of clans and tribes.
“The Shezhere Tree ‘wakes up’ when touched and can answer any question about Bashkortostan, including its history, epic traditions, geography, economy, major enterprises, and tourist attractions,” a representative at the regional stand explained.
AI for Digital Branding
The project serves as a showcase for the republic, demonstrating how digital branding can be used to present a region and its achievements.
Bashkortostan has placed particular emphasis on AI development. A year ago, the regional government created a new position: Deputy Prime Minister for Digital Development and the Implementation of Artificial Intelligence Technologies. The active use of AI in management processes has helped reduce bureaucratic delays and accelerate the delivery of public services. In that regard, the republic has become a model for other regions across the country.
Today, the region is applying AI to a different set of challenges. Rather than focusing on industry, banking, or public services, it is using the technology for regional promotion, tourism, culture, and audience engagement. This offers an important example of how generative and conversational AI can become part of public-facing projects, exhibitions, museums, tourism centers, and regional showcases. Interactive AI experiences of this kind provide a new way for people to explore a region's history, culture, and economy.
A Ready-Made Model for Interactive AI Guides
The technology developed for the stand, effectively an “AI guide for a region or tourist destination,” could be adapted to promote other territories and institutions. Such an interactive guide could be deployed at forums, museums, airports, tourism centers, hotels, and international exhibitions. It is designed to inform visitors and answer questions in real time.
Within Russia's cultural sector, particularly in major museums, AI has already evolved beyond the role of a silent guide and increasingly acts as a conversational companion for visitors. That experience is now being applied to tourism to attract more guests and to regional branding initiatives.
Bashkortostan has demonstrated a new approach to regional positioning. AI is increasingly being used to combine culture, tourism, economic development, and investment promotion within a single experience.
Over the next several years, similar AI installations are likely to become more common at regional exhibition stands, museums, tourism centers, MFTs (Multifunctional Public Service Centers), airports, and major forums. Competition among regions will increasingly extend beyond attracting investors and tourists to include the quality of their digital presentation.
