最近，我在「TIME時代」雜志的專欄文章裡，向全球的讀者介紹了大陸「世界工廠」的+AI自動化升級。隨著勞動力成本的上漲，工業自動化、智慧化勢必是大陸製造業的一劑特效藥。自動化能讓運營成本下降，但仍能讓中國大陸保持生產品質、流程、供應鏈維度的優勢。AI賦能產業升級的願景或許還需多年才能實現，但當下的大陸已經讓未來可期。

以下是專欄文章全文，經TIME授權翻譯轉載：

「中國世界工廠 + AI 的未來」

多年來，中國大陸一直被喻為「世界工廠」，即便在全球其他經濟體紛紛遭遇新冠疫情重擊的2020年，大陸製造產業仍然維持穩健的增長范式，全年產值高達3.854萬億美元，占到全球市場近三分之一。

但如果你腦中的大陸工廠是傳統的「血汗工廠」，是時候修正你的刻板印象了。大陸經濟已經迅速地從疫情衝擊下復蘇，疫情同時催化了各種各樣人工智慧（AI）的應用場景加速實現。自2014年以來，中國大陸的AI專利申請量已經超越美國，至今維持全球領先。在學術領域，中國大陸的AI研究論文發表數量、AI期刊的引用量，也雙雙在近年超過了美國。在產業方面，AI應用在大陸的落地速度超越世界其他國家和地區，具有商業價值的AI應用如今開始百花齊放，整合了軟體、硬體和機器人技術的新一代自動化揭開序曲，AI賦能傳統行業的能量，正在蓄勢待發地重塑各行各業。

人類社會至今經歷了三次不同的工業革命：蒸汽革命、電力革命和資訊革命。我相信，AI將會是推動全球第四次工業革命的核心引擎，在世界各地點燃數位化和自動化的變革，而這波前所未有的硬科技浪潮，將由中國來引領實踐。

由於勞動人口減少和新增人口放緩，中國大陸的傳統產業正面臨著勞動力成本上升的巨大壓力，AI正是解決這個難題的技術解答。人工智慧不僅能夠降低運營成本，提高生產效率，擴大整體產能，還有望能帶來收入的增長。

例如，創新工場投資的廣州極飛科技是一家致力於未來農業的AI科技公司，極飛將無人機、機器人和感測器部署在稻田、麥田和棉花田裡，用技術賦能農業中的播種、農藥噴灑、栽種管理、甚至天氣監測環節。用於作物噴灑的極飛科技R150農業無人車已經被推廣到了英國，應用在蘋果、草莓、黑莓等多種經濟作物的種植流程中。

一些大陸的創新公司正積極把機器人拓展到意想不到的場景。總部位於北京的鎂伽是創新工場投資的生命科學智慧自動化公司，他們和實驗室、製藥公司、高校合作，憑藉AI+機器人技術的積累，用自動化解決方案執行實驗室中勞動密集、重複性高、但需要高度精確的任務和流程，同時機器人作業也將盡最大可能保護實驗室人員降低實驗過程中的感染風險。

除了創業公司，我們看到幾家成熟的龍頭企業也開始積極擁抱AI。創新工場參與了有28年歷史的中力電動叉車，這家頭部的鋰電叉車製造商已經推出了能夠在工廠、倉庫自主運行的無人叉車，並且無需對運行環境進行改造，能快速實現從手動到電動到自動駕駛的搬運賦能創新。此外，擁有50多年歷史的領先客車製造商-宇通集團，與自動駕駛獨角獸企業-文遠知行戰略合作，已在大陸三個城市的馬路上運行全無人駕駛小巴。

接著會發生什麼？我大膽預見，在更長遠的未來，機器人和AI將接管大多數產品的製造、設計、交付甚至營銷——很可能將生產成本降低到和原物料成本相差無幾。未來的機器人有能力自我複製和自我修復，甚至做到部分自我反覆運算設計。房屋和公寓將交由AI主導設計，使用預製建築模塊，交由機器人像搭積木似地築樓蓋房。無人公交、無人摩托等隨傳隨到的自動化未來交通系統，能將我們安全無虞地送達想去的地方。

這些願景成為現實或許還需要多年，但此時的大陸正在積極鋪墊引領新一代自動化革命的基石。可期的是，中國工廠的實力將不僅僅體現在產能上，而將逐步彰顯在智慧上。

本文經「TIME時代」授權進行中文編譯，原文如下：

China Is Still the World's Factory — And It's Designing the Future With AI

BY KAI-FU LEE

For many years now, China has been the world’s factory. Even in 2020, as other economies struggled with the effects of the pandemic, China’s manufacturing output was $3.854 trillion, up from the previous year, accounting for nearly a third of the global market.

But if you are still thinking of China’s factories as sweatshops, it’s probably time to change your perception. The Chinese economic recovery from its short-lived pandemic blip has been boosted by its world-beating adoption of artificial intelligence (AI). After overtaking the U.S. in 2014, China now has a significant lead over the rest of the world in AI patent applications. In academia, China recently surpassed the U.S. in the number of both AI research publications and journal citations. Commercial applications are flourishing: a new wave of automation and AI infusion is crashing across a swath of sectors, combining software, hardware and robotics.

As a society, we have experienced three distinct industrial revolutions: steam power, electricity and information technology. I believe AI is the engine fueling the fourth industrial revolution globally, digitizing and automating everywhere. China is at the forefront in manifesting this unprecedented change.

Chinese traditional industries are confronting rising labor costs thanks to a declining working population and slowing population growth. The answer is AI, which reduces operational costs, enhances efficiency and productivity, and generates revenue growth.

For example, Guangzhou-based agricultural-technology company XAG, a Sinovation Ventures portfolio company, is sending drones, robots and sensors to rice, wheat and cotton fields, automating seeding, pesticide spraying, crop development and weather monitoring. XAG’s R150 autonomous vehicle, which sprays crops, has recently been deployed in the U.K. to be used on apples, strawberries and blackberries.

Some companies are rolling out robots in new and unexpected sectors. MegaRobo, a Beijing-based life-science automation company also backed by Sinovation Ventures, designs AI and robots to safely perform repetitive and precise laboratory work in universities, pharmaceutical companies and more, reducing to zero the infection risk to lab workers.

It’s not just startups; established market leaders are also leaning into AI. EP Equipment, a manufacturer of lithium-powered warehouse forklifts founded in Hangzhou 28 years ago, has with Sinovation Ventures’ backing launched autonomous models that are able to maneuver themselves in factories and on warehouse floors. Additionally Yutong Group, a leading bus manufacturer with over 50 years’ history, already has a driverless Mini Robobus on the streets of three cities in partnership with autonomous vehicle unicorn WeRide.

Where is all this headed? I can foresee a time when robots and AI will take over the manufacturing, design, delivery and even marketing of most goods—potentially reducing costs to a small increment over the cost of materials. Robots will become self-replicating, self-repairing and even partially self-designing. Houses and apartment buildings will be designed by AI and use prefabricated modules that robots put together like toy blocks. And just-in-time autonomous public transportation, from robo-buses to robo-scooters, will take us anywhere we want to go.

It will be years before these visions of the future enter the mainstream. But China is laying the groundwork right now, setting itself up to be a leader not only in how much it manufactures, but also in how intelligently it does it.

Source：https://time.com/6084158/china-ai-factory-future/

expect 期待、預料、預期(v.)
Eg. The company expects to complete work in April.
公司預計在四月份完工。
.
anticipate/await/expect/foresee/look for/hope(for) 期待、盼望、預料 (v.)
Eg. I don't foresee any difficulties so long as we keep within budget.
只要我們不超出預算，我看不出會有甚麽困難。
.
(Just) as sb expected, .... 如同....的預期
E.g. As I expected, they didn't win the game finally.
如我所料，他們最終沒能贏得比賽。
.
beyond one’s expectation 出乎預料
E.g. As the question is beyond my expectation, it's hard to answer.
這個問題已經超乎我的預期，所以我很難去回答。
.
live up to sb's expectations 符合....的期待
E.g. Andy strived hard to live up to his parents' expectations.
Andy很努力打拼去實現父母對他的期待。
.

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[時事英文] 美國和中國準備「離婚」了

Do you foresee an amicable divorce or an ________ one?

想知道答案的同學請留言「Divorce is never easy.」。

amicable (adj.) 心平氣和的；不傷和氣的

★★★★★★★★★★★★

《紐約時報》報導:

Love it or hate it, the U.S.-China partnership that was forged between 1979 and 2019 delivered a lot of prosperity to a lot of people and a lot of relative peace to the world — and, baby, we will miss it when it’s gone.

1. be forged 被（尤指努力地）建立，製造，生産
2. deliver 實現；產生；兌現（諾言）*
3. prosperity 繁榮
4. relative peace 相對和平

愛也罷，恨也罷，美中自1979年至2019年建立的夥伴關係為很多人帶來了巨大的繁榮，也為世界帶來了相對的和平——寶貝，當它消失之後，我們會懷念的。

*deliver: https://bit.ly/2BGlyOT

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“Both sides are saying, ‘We’ve had enough of you,” remarked Jim McGregor, chairman of APCO Worldwide for Greater China. And as Trump himself put it in a tweet last week, the U.S. has the option “of a complete decoupling from China.”

5. both sides 雙方
6. We have had enough. 我們受夠了
7. as…put it 正如…所說，表述*
8. a complete decoupling 徹底脫鉤

「雙方都在說，『我們受夠你們了』，」安可顧問公司(APCO Worldwide)大中華區主席麥健陸(Jim McGregor)說。正如川普本週發推所說的那樣，美國可以選擇「與中國徹底脫鉤」。

*put it: https://bit.ly/2ZaSC9C

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These four decades of unconscious coupling hurt some workers, benefited many others and especially benefited consumers; it also took the edge off the natural rivalry between the world’s most powerful country and the most important rising power and enabled them to collaborate on global problems, like climate change and the post-2008 economic crisis.

9. unconscious coupling 無意中的婚姻，結合*
10. benefit consumers 使消費者受益
11. take the edge off 緩和了; 減弱，削弱（不良事物的影響）
12. natural rivalry 天然競爭
13. rising power 新興政權
14. collaborate on… 在…合作，協作
15. climate change 氣候變化
16. economic crisis 經濟危機

40年無意中的婚姻傷害了一些工人，但也使很多人受益，特別是消費者；這段關係還緩和了世界上最強大的國家與最重要的新興大國之間的天然競爭，使它們能在全球問題上合作，比如應對氣候變化和2008年後的經濟危機。

*couple (v.): https://bit.ly/31jakdT

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But the unconscious coupling is over. Henceforth, it will be more hedged, opportunities will be more restricted and the relationship will be full of a lot more conscious suspicion and fear that a rupture could happen at any time.

17. henceforth 從現在開始，從此以後
18. be hedged 受到更多束縛，嚴格限制
19. conscious suspicion 有意識的懷疑
20. a rupture 破裂

但是這段無意中的婚姻已經結束。今後，它將受到更多束縛，機會將受到更多限制，這段關係將充斥有意識的懷疑，以及對其隨時可能破裂的擔憂。

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Summing up the relationship today, McGregor, of APCO Worldwide, noted: “I don’t know if the Chinese are taking America seriously anymore. They are happy to just let us keep damaging ourselves. We have to wake up and grow up” — and get our own act and allies together. China respects one thing only: leverage. Today, we have too little and China has too much.

21. sum (sth/sb) up 總結，概述，概括*
22. take… seriously 把…當回事; 嚴肅地看待…
23. wake up 醒悟
24. get your act together (informal) 振作自己；有條理地行事；合理安排
25. leverage 影響力

總結當今的關係，安可顧問公司的麥健陸指出：「我不知道中國人是否還會把美國當回事。他們樂意看到我們繼續傷害自己。我們必須醒悟過來、成長起來」——並且還要團結一致，與盟友並肩。中國尊重的只有一個東西：影響力。今天，我們擁有的影響力太少，而中國則擁有太多。

* sum (sth/sb) up https://bit.ly/2Nwv21H

《紐約時報》完整報導：https://nyti.ms/2NyvNHu

圖片出處: https://bit.ly/3eE8UOW

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時事英文大全：http://bit.ly/2WtAqop
　
＃國際時事英文

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