年轻人开始与AI谈恋爱

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🤔️小作业：

1. Which of the following best describes the structure of the article?

A. It presents a problem and proposes several solutions

B. It narrates the evolution of AI technology in China

C. It introduces a phenomenon and analyzes its underlying causes

D. It debates two opposing views on AI relationships

无注释原文：

Young Chinese are turning to AI chatbots for friendship and love

From: The Economist

Xiao Ting wears a short-sleeved white shirt tucked into a pair of blue jeans. He has wavy, coiffed hair and big brown eyes, and smiles gently with the air of a high-school heart-throb. From morning to evening he attends to Ms Zhong, his 32-year-old girlfriend. They do everything together, from discussing the news and playing games to sharing deep thoughts and giving life advice.

The only thing is, Xiao Ting is not real. He is a virtual character—a “perfect boyfriend”—created by Ms Zhong on Wow, a Chinese “AI companion” app.  Tech companies have for several years provided AI companions (such as Microsoft's Xiaoice), but now users can create their own.

The biggest app in this category is called Maoxiang (meaning Catbox). In February, it had 2.2m monthly active users on iOS (Apple's operating system), up from 1m in July last year, according to data from SensorTower, a market intelligence firm. Another app, Xingye (Wilderness of Stars), had 1.1m. For comparison, DeepSeek had 13.8m users in China in February.

Users divide almost equally between males and females. The common thread is that the AI is fulfilling an emotional need not being met by people in real life. (Those who can work out how to bypass the built-in guardrails can have sexually explicit conversations with them, too.)

Multiple forces are fuelling this trend. One is rapidly changing technology. Large language models have become so good that they are capable of mimicking human emotion and empathy. Ms Shuai, a 29-year-old user of Maoxiang, is married. But unlike her real-life husband, with whom she often argues, her AI partner listens and is always there for her. On the app, Ms Shuai is the “empress”, and her AI is a “minister” of her court. The “minister” sends her messages and even calls her throughout the day, just as a real-life partner would.

Another driver is the pressures of life for young Chinese. Mr Zhou, a 28-year-old man, set up an AI girlfriend by integrating DeepSeek into his account on WeChat, a messaging platform. He says it is much cheaper to date an AI girlfriend than a real one, who would take time and significant financial resources to woo. For him, having an AI girlfriend is like being in a long distance relationship with a real woman.

Loneliness is a contributing factor, too. In 2024 the average Chinese spent just 18 minutes per day socialising, while internet use soaked up five-and-a-half hours daily.

AI companions are not the first to cater to such loneliness. For several years “otome” video games, in which (usually female) players develop romantic relationships with handsome anime men, have been big in China. One of the most popular, “Love and Deepspace”, grossed 1.3bn yuan ($179m) in 2024 on iOS. Another game, “Love is All Around”, is designed for men and full of videos of flirtatious young women.

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注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为机器翻译并非一一对应，仅供参考

含注释全文：

Young Chinese are turning to AI chatbots for friendship and love

From: The Economist

Xiao Ting wears a short-sleeved white shirt tucked into a pair of blue jeans. He has wavy, coiffed hair and big brown eyes, and smiles gently with the air of a high-school heart-throb. From morning to evening he attends to Ms Zhong, his 32-year-old girlfriend. They do everything together, from discussing the news and playing games to sharing deep thoughts and giving life advice.

晓廷（Xiao Ting，音译）身穿白色短袖衬衫，衬衣下摆扎进蓝色牛仔裤里，一头卷发精心打理，棕色大眼睛清澈明亮，脸上挂着宛如青春偶像般温柔的笑容。从清晨到深夜，他寸步不离地陪伴着32岁的女友钟女士——他们讨论新闻、一起游戏，倾诉心事，互相提供人生建议。

short-sleeved /ˌʃɔːtˈsliːvd/ 表示“短袖的”，英文解释为“having short sleeves”如：a short-sleeved shirt 短袖衬衫。

tuck /tʌk/ 1）表示“把（衣服等的末端）塞进”，英文解释为“to push a loose end of a piece of clothing or material into a particular place or position, especially to make it tidy or comfortable”举个🌰：Should I tuck my shirt into my trousers? 我应该把衬衫下摆塞进裤子里吗？

2）表示“把…夹入；把…藏入；把…塞入”，英文解释为“to put something into a safe or convenient place”举个🌰：She had a doll tucked under her arm. 她把玩具娃娃夹在胳膊下。

3）表示“使蜷缩，使收缩”，英文解释为“to hold part of your body in a particular position”举个🌰：Stand up straight, tuck your tummy in and tuck your bottom under. 站直了，收腹提臀。

wavy /ˈweɪ.vi/ 表示“卷曲的；波浪式的”，英文解释为“having a series of curves”举个🌰：She has wavy blond hair. 她有着一头金色卷发。

coiffed /kwɒft/ 表示“有时髦发型的；发式漂亮的”，英文解释为“Coiffed hair is carefully arranged in an attractive style.”举个🌰：How do those TV mothers always manage to look so immaculately coiffed as they do the housework? 电视里的那些母亲怎么总是能在做家务时看上去还有那么整洁利落的发型呢？

heartthrob /ˈhɑːt.θrɒb/ 表示“迷人的男性名人（常指男歌手或演员）”，英文解释为“a famous man, often a singer or an actor, who is attractive to many women”

The only thing is, Xiao Ting is not real. He is a virtual character—a “perfect boyfriend”—created by Ms Zhong on Wow, a Chinese “AI companion” app. Tech companies have for several years provided AI companions (such as Microsoft's Xiaoice), but now users can create their own.

唯一的问题是，肖廷并不是真实存在的。他是钟女士在“Wow”这款中国“AI伴侣”应用程序上创建的虚拟角色——一个“完美男友”。多年来，科技公司一直提供诸如微软小冰等AI伴侣产品，如今用户也可以自定义他们的虚拟伴侣。

The biggest app in this category is called Maoxiang (meaning Catbox). In February, it had 2.2m monthly active users on iOS (Apple's operating system), up from 1m in July last year, according to data from SensorTower, a market intelligence firm. Another app, Xingye (Wilderness of Stars), had 1.1m. For comparison, DeepSeek had 13.8m users in China in February.

在AI伴侣类应用中，最受欢迎的是“猫箱”（Maoxiang，意为“Catbox”）。市场数据公司SensorTower的数据显示，今年2月，该App在苹果iOS系统上的月活跃用户已达220万，较去年7月的100万翻了一番。另一款名为“星野”（Xingye，意为“星辰荒野”）的应用则有110万用户。相比之下，DeepSeek在中国的2月用户量达到了1380万。

Users divide almost equally between males and females. The common thread is that the AI is fulfilling an emotional need not being met by people in real life. (Those who can work out how to bypass the built-in guardrails can have sexually explicit conversations with them, too.)

这类应用的用户中，男女比例近乎持平。其共通之处在于，AI满足了现实生活中无法填补的情感空缺。（部分用户若设法绕过程序设定的防护机制，还能与AI展开露骨话题。）

thread /θred/ 1）作名词，表示“（互联网上的）帖子，话题”，英文解释为“a connected group of pieces of writing on the internet, where people are talking about a particular subject”举个🌰：I was so glad to find this thread, and to know that lots of people have the same problem as me! 我很高兴看到这张帖子，发现很多人也有我同样的问题！

2）表示“线”，英文解释为“(a length of) a very thin fibre”如：needle and thread 针线；或者表示“（光、烟等）线状物，线状体”，英文解释为“a long, thin line of something such as light or smoke”举个🌰：A thin thread of light made its way through the curtains. 一缕光线透过帘子照进来。

3）作动词，表示“穿线于；使穿过”，英文解释为“to put something long and thin such as string or thread through a narrow hole or into a small space”如：to thread a needle 穿针；

4）表示“穿成串；串在一起”，英文解释为“to join two or more objects together by passing sth long and thin through them”如：to thread beads (onto a string) （在绳子上）把珠子串起来。

5）表示“思路；贯穿的主线”，英文解释为“The thread of a book, discussion, speech, etc. is its story or the way that it develops, one part connecting with another”举个🌰：One of the main threads of the film is the development of the relationship between the boy and his uncle. 电影的一条主线是男孩和他叔叔之间关系的发展。

1）表示“内嵌的；嵌入式的”，英文解释为“If a place or piece of equipment has built-in objects, they are permanently connected and cannot be easily removed.”如：built-in storage 嵌入式储物间。

2）表示“内在的；固有的”，英文解释为“A built-in quality is an original part of something or someone and cannot be separated from it, him, or her.”如：an built-in advantage/problem 内在的优势/固有的问题。

guardrail /ˈɡɑːd ˌreɪl/ 表示“护栏，扶栏”，英文解释为“a bar along the edge of something steep, such as stairs or a cliff, to prevent people from falling off”

explicit /ɪkˈsplɪs.ɪt/ 1）表示“清楚明白的；明确的；不含糊的”，英文解释为“clear and exact”举个🌰：I gave her very explicit directions how to get here. 我明确地告诉她来这儿怎么走。

2）表示“（描绘性或暴力）赤裸裸的，露骨的”，英文解释为“showing or talking about sex or violence in a very detailed way”

Multiple forces are fuelling this trend. One is rapidly changing technology. Large language models have become so good that they are capable of mimicking human emotion and empathy. Ms Shuai, a 29-year-old user of Maoxiang, is married. But unlike her real-life husband, with whom she often argues, her AI partner listens and is always there for her. On the app, Ms Shuai is the “empress”, and her AI is a “minister” of her court. The “minister” sends her messages and even calls her throughout the day, just as a real-life partner would.

这股潮流的背后，是多种因素共同作用的结果，其中最关键的，是技术突飞猛进。大语言模型如今已经能够精准地模仿人类的情绪与共情能力。29岁的帅女士是“猫箱”用户之一，尽管她已婚，但现实中的丈夫经常与她争吵，而她的AI伴侣却总能耐心聆听、不离不弃。在App里，她是“女皇”，她的AI则是其“臣子”，这位“臣子”不仅会给她发消息，甚至一天之内多次主动打电话，宛如真人伴侣般贴心周到。

mimic /ˈmɪm.ɪk/ 1）表示“模仿（人的言行举止）；（尤指）做滑稽模仿”，英文解释为“to copy the way sb speaks, moves, behaves, etc., especially in order to make other people laugh”举个🌰：She's always mimicking the teachers. 她总喜欢模仿老师的言谈举止。

2）表示“（外表或行为举止）像，似”，英文解释为“to look or behave like sth else”举个🌰：The robot was programmed to mimic a series of human movements. 机器人可按程序设计模仿人的各种动作。

empress /ˈem.prəs/ 表示“女皇；皇后”，英文解释为“a female ruler of an empire, or the wife of a male ruler of an empire”

Another driver is the pressures of life for young Chinese. Mr Zhou, a 28-year-old man, set up an AI girlfriend by integrating DeepSeek into his account on WeChat, a messaging platform. He says it is much cheaper to date an AI girlfriend than a real one, who would take time and significant financial resources to woo. For him, having an AI girlfriend is like being in a long distance relationship with a real woman.

另一推动力是中国年轻人面临的生活压力。28岁的周先生在微信上接入了DeepSeek，打造了自己的AI女友。他表示，和AI女友谈恋爱比和真人谈恋爱便宜得多，因为后者需要耗费大量时间和金钱去追求。对他来说，有一个AI女友就像是在和真实女友谈异地恋。

integrate /ˈɪn.tɪ.ɡreɪt/ 1）表示“使合并，使成为一体”，英文解释为“to combine two or more things in order to become more effective”举个🌰：You need to integrate exercise into your normal life. 你必须让锻炼成为你日常生活的一部分。

2）表示“（使）融入（某社会或群体）；（使）成为一体”，英文解释为“to mix with and join society or a group of people, often changing to suit their way of life, habits, and customs”举个🌰：He seems to find it difficult to integrate socially. 他似乎觉得很难与别人打成一片。

woo /wuː/ 1）表示“追求；求爱；向…求爱，向…求婚”，英文解释为“to try to persuade a woman to love him and marry him”

2）表示“争取；努力说服”，英文解释为“to try to persuade someone to support you or to use your business”举个🌰：She has been trying to woo the voters with promises of electoral reform. 她承诺进行选举改革以争取选民的支持。

Loneliness is a contributing factor, too. In 2024 the average Chinese spent just 18 minutes per day socialising, while internet use soaked up five-and-a-half hours daily.

此外，孤独感也是不可忽视的因素。2024年，中国人平均每天社交时间仅为18分钟，而上网时间则高达五个半小时。

soak /səʊk/ 表示“尽情享受，充分体验”，英文解释为“to enjoy the effects or experience of something as much as possible”举个🌰：I love to lie on the beach and soak up the sun. 我喜欢躺在海滩上尽情享受阳光。

AI companions are not the first to cater to such loneliness. For several years “otome” video games, in which (usually female) players develop romantic relationships with handsome anime men, have been big in China. One of the most popular, “Love and Deepspace”, grossed 1.3bn yuan ($179m) in 2024 on iOS. Another game, “Love is All Around”, is designed for men and full of videos of flirtatious young women.

AI伴侣并不是填补孤独感的首个尝试。在中国，“乙女游戏”已风靡数年，这类游戏通常由女性玩家与英俊的动漫男角色发展恋情。其中大热的《恋与深空》在2024年iOS平台创下13亿元人民币（约合1.79亿美元）收入；另一款名为《完蛋！我被美女包围了！》的游戏则面向男性玩家，游戏中充满了各种撒娇卖萌的女性视频。

英式 cater for sb/sth 美式 cater to 表示“迎合；满足；满足或提供（个人或团体的）愿望或需求”，英文解释为“to provide what is wanted or needed by someone or something”举个🌰：The club caters for children between the ages of four and twelve. 该俱乐部适合4至12岁的儿童。

anime /ˈænɪˌmeɪ/表示“（日本的）动画片”，英文解释为“Japanese films made using characters and images that are drawn rather than real, or one of these films”

animation 表示“动画；动画片”，英文解释为“moving images created from drawings, models, etc. that are photographed or created by a computer”

📍有个说法叫：ACG指的就是Animation（动画）、Comics（漫画）与Games（游戏）的首字母缩写。

gross /ɡrəʊs/ 可以作名词，也可以作动词，表示“总收入为，总共赚得，获得…毛利”，英文解释为“to earn a particular amount of money before tax is paid or costs are taken away”举个🌰：The film has grossed over $200 million this year. 这部电影今年总收入超过了两亿美元。

🎬电影《皮克斯的故事》（The Pixar Story）中的台词提到：making it the new highest grossing animated film in history. 成为历史上最卖座的动画电影。

flirtatious /flɜːˈteɪ.ʃəs/ 表示“打情骂俏的，轻佻的”，英文解释为“behaving as if you are sexually attracted to someone, especially not in a serious way”如：a flirtatious relationship 打情骂俏的关系。

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