厉害了！中国首位AI女主播诞生，虚拟主播团队又壮大了！

Chinese state news agency unveils its first female AI anchor modelled after a human presenter as it expands its team of virtual journalists

中国国家通讯社发布了首个以真人主持人为原型的人工智能女主播，扩大了其虚拟记者团队

素材来源：每日邮报 翻译：世界播

China's state-run press agency has welcomed its first female AI anchor who will join its growing team of virtual presenters.

中国官方通讯社迎来了第一位女性人工智能主播，其虚拟主播团队日益壮大。

The female AI newsreader will make her professional debut during the upcoming meetings of the country's national legislature and top political advisory body in March, according to Xinhua at a press conference on Tuesday.

据新华社在周二的新闻发布会上报道，这位女性人工智能新闻播音员将在即将于3月召开的全国人大和政协会议上首次亮相。

The AI newsreader

AI主播

Flesh-and-blood journalist Qu Meng

真人主播曲萌

Modelled after the agency's flesh-and-blood journalist Qu Meng, the AI newsreader was jointly developed by Xinhua and search engine company Sogou.com and can 'read texts as naturally as a professional anchor'.

这款人工智能新闻播音员以新华社的真人主播曲萌为原型，由新华社和搜索引擎公司搜狗共同开发，可以“像专业主播一样自然地播报新闻”。

'Hello everyone, I am the world's first female AI presenter developed by Xinhua News Agency and Sougu. My name is Xin Xiaomeng,' says the journalist in an introductory video.

在一段介绍性视频中，这位女主持说，“大家好，我是世界上第一位由新华社和搜狗联合打造的人工智能女主播。我的名字叫新小萌。”

She joins the digital doppelgangers of English-language anchor Zhang Zhao and his Chinese-language counterpart Qiu Hao, who were unveiled in November during the 2018 World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province.

她加入到英语节目主播张昭和中文节目主播邱浩的数字化替身队伍中，这两位人工智能男主播的身份于去年11月在浙江省乌镇举行的2018年世界互联网大会上公布。

Xinhua also on Tuesday unveiled an improved version of its AI presenter Qiu Hao, named Xin Xiaohao, who is able to gesticulate in a natural manner and read the news while standing up.

新华社周二还发布了以邱浩为原型的人工智能主播的改进版，名叫新小浩，他能够自然地做手势，并能站着播报新闻。

An AI system has been used to synthesise the presenters' voices, lip movements and expressions based on those of real presenters.

人工智能系统根据主播原型特征，来合成智能主播的声音、嘴唇动作和表情。

The digital anchors offer certain advantages over humans, Xinhua previously said. They are available to work 24 hours a day on its official website and various social media platforms.

新华社之前报道过，数字化主播比人类有一定的优势。他们可以在其官方网站和各种社交媒体平台上24小时不间歇工作。

This can reduce news production costs and improve efficiency during breaking news reports.

数字化主播可以降低新闻制作成本，提高突发新闻报道的效率。

Xinhua said that its 'new employees' have taken to their roles with enthusiasm and have published more than 3,400 reports totaling over 10,000 minutes in length since November.

新华社表示，自去年11月以来，它的“新员工”已经积极投入工作，共发表了3,400多篇报道，总时长超过1万分钟。

Net users previously welcomed the new presenters while others questioned whether they would replace their human counterparts. Some complained that the AI newsreaders had a very robotic and unnatural voice.

此前，许多网友们对这些新主播表示很支持，也有人质疑他们是否会取代真人主持人。有些人抱怨人工智能新闻主播的声音非常机械和不自然。

China has become one of the leading global hubs for AI development in recent years.

近年来，中国已成为全球人工智能发展的主要中心之一。

Several fields such as finance, healthcare, and manufacturing have adopted machine learning systems for commercial uses.

金融、医疗和制造业等多个领域已经将机器学习系统用于商业用途。

Automating workplaces in China with AI could add 0.8 to 1.4 per cent to gross domestic product (GDP) growth annually, depending on the speed of adoption, according to a report by McKinsey Global Institute.

麦肯锡全球研究院的一份报告显示，根据人工智能采用的速度不同，在中国，使用人工智能实现工作场所自动化，可能每年为国内生产总值增长贡献0.8%至1.4%。