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About this Episode
Some of China's largest technology companies have spent tens of billions of yuan this year to push artificial intelligence initiatives for the upcoming Spring Festival, marking their most significant effort yet to take AI applications out of labs and into the daily lives of a nation of more than 1.4 billion consumers.
今年，中国一些大型科技公司已投入数百亿元，在即将到来的春节期间推广人工智能应用。这是他们迄今为止最大的一次努力，旨在将AI应用带出实验室，融入超14亿消费者的日常生活。
The move could potentially give China an early lead in large-scale consumer AI adoption, which may be difficult for its rivals in the United States to replicate, industry experts said.
业内专家表示，此举可能让中国在大规模消费者AI应用上率先一步，美国竞争对手或难以效仿。
At the center of this effort is Alibaba's Qwen app, which announced a 3 billion yuan ($420 million) holiday campaign starting on Friday. The campaign offers users free food, retail and services, but only if they make purchases through the app's AI-assisted ordering system.
阿里巴巴的"通义千问"应用是此番推广的核心，该应用2日宣布开启总价值30亿元的新春活动。这项活动为用户提供免费食品、零售和服务，但前提是他们必须通过应用的AI点单系统进行购买。
For example, users could buy a cup of milk tea or coffee for as little as 0.01 yuan, an offer that has sparked a social media frenzy. Many consumers joked online that they were drinking their first "AI milk tea".
例如，用户可以花0.01元购买一杯奶茶或咖啡，这一活动在社交媒体上掀起热潮。许多消费者在网上开玩笑说，这是自己人生中的第一杯"AI奶茶"。
Alibaba's wider ecosystem, including Taobao flash sales, travel platform Fliggy, ticketing service Damai, grocery chain Hema and payment service Alipay are also participating in the campaign by linking AI prompts directly to ordering and payment systems.
阿里巴巴更广泛的应用生态系统也参与了活动，包括淘宝闪购、旅游平台飞猪、票务服务商大麦、生鲜超市盒马和支付宝，将AI提示直接链接到订购和支付系统中。
Wang Peng, a researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, said: "The move is not simply promotional largesse. It is a behavioral experiment aimed at lowering the cost of trials to near zero and habituating users to use AI for decision-making and transactions."
北京市社会科学院研究员王鹏说："此举并非简单的营销推广，而是一项行为实验，旨在将试错成本降至近乎零，使用户逐渐习惯于用人工智能进行决策和交易。"
Among the other players, Tencent Holdings' Yuanbao AI assistant distributed 1 billion yuan in digital red envelopes while testing new AI social features. Baidu Inc distributed 500 million yuan in incentives within its core Baidu app, encouraging a user shift from "search" to "ask AI".
在其他厂商中，腾讯的"元宝"AI助手在测试新AI社交功能时，分发了10亿元的数字红包。百度则在其核心的百度应用中提供了5亿元的奖励，鼓励用户从"搜索"转向"问AI"。
According to Wang, the researcher, this Spring Festival may become a turning point where ordinary users, at scale, form the habit of turning to AI when they need something.
在王鹏看来，今年春节可能成为一个转折点，普通用户开始普遍养成需要什么就去找AI的习惯。
While Chinese firms are integrating AI into food delivery, travel booking, entertainment and retail, US companies are focusing more on workplace productivity and software automation.
当中国企业将AI整合到外卖、旅游预订、娱乐和零售中时，美国企业更关注工作场所的生产效率和软件自动化。
Wang emphasized that China's digital infrastructure, including its large population of mobile internet users, deeply entrenched mobile payment systems, and mature online-to-offline commerce networks, gives the country a natural advantage.
王鹏强调，中国的数字基础设施具有天然优势，包括大量的移动互联网用户、深度渗透的移动支付系统，以及成熟的线上线下商业网络。
"These allow AI systems not only to suggest actions but also to execute payments and services within a closed loop — a level of integration that is harder to achieve in more fragmented Western digital markets," he added.
这些优势使AI系统能够在闭环内不仅提供行动建议，还能执行支付和服务，而这种整合水平在数字市场较为分散的西方国家较难实现。
Behavioral change
消费习惯改变
However, Pan Helin, a member of an expert committee under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, warned that heavy subsidies do not guarantee lasting behavioral change.
不过，工信部信息通信经济专家委员会委员盘和林警告说，高额补贴并不能保证消费习惯的改变。
"Holiday red envelopes and free offers can drive a temporary surge, but the real test comes after the incentives fade. The key question is whether users will still order drinks or plan trips via AI when there are no discounts.
"节日红包和免费活动可以带来暂时的热潮，真正的考验是在福利活动结束后。关键的问题是，当没有折扣时，用户是否还会通过AI订购饮料或计划旅行。
"Only AI products that solve real problems and integrate into everyday life will endure. For China's tech giants, the real test of turning trial into habit is only beginning," he said.
只有能解决实际问题并融入日常生活的AI产品才能持久。对于中国科技巨头而言，将尝试变成习惯的真正考验才刚刚开始。"
frenzy /ˈfren.zi/狂热，疯狂
promotional largesse /prəˈməʊ.ʃən.əl lɑːrˈʒes/促销优惠/推广让利
temporary surge /ˈtem.pər.ər.i sɜːrdʒ/暂时激增/短期热潮
incentive /ɪnˈsen.tɪv/激励措施/奖励
Hosts & Guests
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