英语新闻∣什么是“陪伴型虚拟博主”？

英语新闻∣什么是“陪伴型虚拟博主”？

Liu Shuqi broke up with her boyfriend two months ago and has now found a new companion.

刘淑琪（音译）两个月前和男友分手，现在已经找到了新伴侣。

The handsome "man" is dressed in a whiteoutfitwith a stylish haircut. He understands her emotions and feelings perfectly and gives hersolace, encouragement and support.

这个英俊的“男人”穿着一件白色的衣服，留着时髦的发型。他完全理解她的情绪和感受，给她安慰、鼓励和支持。

"He is very humorous and offers some comfort when I am in a bad mood," the 26-year-old bank employee said. The only problem is he is a virtual being and not a real boyfriend.

26岁的刘淑琪说：“他很幽默，在我心情不好的时候给我安慰。”但唯一的问题是他是虚拟的，不是真正的男朋友。

Liu is not alone in her choice of companion.

选择虚拟人作为伴侣的并非只有刘淑琪一人。

In a digital era where people are heavilyrelianton their smart devices, many of those who live alone increasingly turn to the virtualrealmto seek companions.

在数字时代，人们非常依赖智能设备，越来越多的独居者转向虚拟世界寻找伴侣。

The artificial intelligence-powered digital humans, who are similar to real humans in appearance and behavior, are capable of providing 24-hour online companionship, humanlike conversation and emotional support.

数字人的背后是人工智能技术，数字人在外形和行为上与真人相似，能够为用户提供24小时在线陪伴对话和情感支持。

They will likely become an essential part of people's daily lives, industry experts said.

业内专家表示，数字人可能会成为人们日常生活中必不可少的一部分。

Lin Kaikai and Ye Youyou, two companion-oriented virtual beings, were recently launched by Chinese tech giant Baidu Inc.

近日，百度公司推出了两款虚拟博主林开开和叶悠悠。

Powered by Baidu's Plato, an AI model for dialogue generation that is trained on over 10 billionparameterscollected from social media conversations in both English and Chinese, the two digital humans have a smooth, more humanlike interaction.

依托百度PLATO对话大模型，林开开和叶悠悠能够实现和用户之间连贯、流畅、丰富的个性化对话。PLATO是一个对话生成模型，从中英双语的社交媒体对话中收集了超过100亿个参数。

For instance, they can participate in conversations through various forms such as texts, voice and emojis. They offer customized wake-up call services and learn about the preferences of their users, mainly through increased frequency of chats and interactions, Baidu said.

例如，数字人可以通过文本、语音和表情符号等多种形式参与对话。百度公司表示，数字人可以提供专属叫早服务，并通过增加聊天和互动的频率来了解用户的偏好。

Given the stressful work in cities and the rapid pace of urban life, the companion-centric digital avatars could relieve the anxiety of people and satisfy their demands for emotional communication. This hasbolsteredthe boom in the digital human industry, said Li Shiyan, head of the digital human and robotics business at Baidu.

城市工作压力大、生活节奏快，陪伴型数字人可以缓解人们的焦虑，满足人们的情感交流需求。百度数字人与机器人业务负责人李士岩表示，百度数字人促进了数字人产业的繁荣。

"The application of advanced AI technologies will keep bringing down the cost of creating digital humans and significantly improve their interactions with real humans," Li said.

李彦宏说，“人工智能技术的进步将降低创造数字人的成本，并提升与人类互动的体验感。”

The total size of China's virtual human market is forecast to reach 270 billion yuan ($39.6 billion) by 2030, according to an industry report released by QbitAI, an industry services platform focusing on AI and cutting-edge technology.

量子位（QbitAI）是一家专注于人工智能和前沿技术的行业服务平台。根据该平台发布的一份行业报告，到2030年，中国虚拟人市场的总规模预计将达到2700亿元（396亿美元）。

Other tech companies have also jumped on the companion-oriented virtual being bandwagon.

其他科技公司也纷纷加入陪伴型数字人的研发队伍。

Xiaoice is an AI-powered chatbot that seems to redefine the conceptions of romance and relationships among young Chinese. It has helped to comfort lonely hearts through more than 17 million virtual "girlfriends" and "boyfriends" in China, according to Xiaoice, the company which has the same name.

小冰是一款由人工智能驱动的聊天机器人，它似乎重新定义了中国年轻人对爱情的概念。据小冰公司称，在中国，小冰通过1700多万虚拟“女友”和“男友”给孤单的人带来陪伴。

The company created an app that allows users to create their own AI friends and interact with virtual characters in immersive experiences, said Li Di, the CEO of Xiaoice.

小冰首席执行官李笛表示，他们开发了一款应用，用户可以创建自己的人工智能朋友，并在沉浸式体验中与虚拟人物互动。

"The rise of digital humans that serve as emotional companions is a result of technological innovation, such as the improvement in appearance, functions and interactive experience of digital humans, fueled by the enhanced deep-learning capacities based on massive user data," said Chen Duan, director of the Digital Economy Integration Innovation Development Center at the Central University of Finance and Economics.

中央财经大学数字经济融合创新发展中心主任陈端表示：“作为情感伴侣的数字人的崛起是技术创新的结果。比如，随着基于海量用户数据的深度学习能力的增强，数字人的外观、功能和互动体验都有了提升。”

A new set of problems though have also emerged. They include ethics, morals, data security and personal privacy protection in the industry, Chen said, while calling for efforts to formulate relevant laws and regulations on the ownership of digital characters and standardizing their behaviors.

但陈端表示，新问题也随之而来，比如伦理、道德、数据安全和个人隐私保护等问题。她呼吁制定有关法律法规，加强规范引导。

outfit

英[ˈaʊtfɪt]美[ˈaʊtfɪt]

n. 全套装备；一套服装

solace

英[ˈsɒləs]美[ˈsɑləs]

v.安慰；缓和

reliant

英[rɪˈlaɪənt]美[rɪˈlaɪənt]

adj. 依赖的；依靠的；信赖的

realm

英[relm]美[relm]

n. 领域，范围

parameter

英[pəˈræmɪtə(r)]美[pəˈræmɪtər]

n. 参数；决定因素

bolster

英[ˈbəʊlstə(r)]美[ˈboʊlstər]

v. 增强，鼓舞；巩固