An 86-year-old geisha is turning to AI to protect Japan's falling geisha population

In one of the busy malls in Tokyo, Ikuko, Japan's oldest and most famous geisha dances for shoppers in an elegant black kimono with precise movements. Only, the 86-year-old isn't really there; it's her hologram, a 3D projection of her, displayed in a life-size white box. "Thank you very much," she said to passers-by, before bowing and changing to a younger version of herself, created with AI.While she doesn't think AI is "cut out for this dance" just yet, or to replace their legendary hospitality, with the geisha numbers dwindling in the country, Ikuko has resigned to embracing new things in order to save the country's most iconic art forms.Once, there were 200 geisha in Akasaka, the area of Tokyo where Ikuko practises. But over the years, she has watched their number fall to about 20. "I felt we had to preserve this culture, so I did it for the sake of that very culture," she told ABC News. "This is the era we are entering, so I have to go along with it."After an illustrious career, which includes being the first geisha awarded Japan's prestigious Order of the Rising Sun, Ikuko feels the responsibility to preserve the tradition. "I'm already at the end of my life," she said. "My g...