本集内容

An app to calm you down 聊天机器人为你提供心理咨询服务

学习要点

和“mental health 心理健康”有关的词汇

边看边答

How do the app creators earn money from the software?

文字稿

It’s been less than a year since G. A. Sharma was laid off from his job in India’s IT sector. But the experience left Mr Sharma feeling angry and sometimes even depressed. And he found it difficult to open up to his family. But he did find some comfort in a chatting app called Wysa. 

自夏尔玛从印度IT行业的一个工作岗位被解雇以来不到一年。但这次经历令他心生愤怒，甚至有些消沉。他觉得向家人敞开心扉地讲述这件事比较困难。但他在名为“Wysa”的手机聊天应用程序上找到了些许安慰。

The chat robot, or chatbot, behaves like a counsellor, focusing on what users are feeling and how to respond to them.

这个聊天机器人就像一位咨询师，着重处理用户的感受及应如何回应这些情感。

So this is what the future of therapy looks like. An interface where people can ask questions and this chatbot will answer. So if I type in a question about, say, losing my job, the codes in the software process it and give you options.

未来的治疗方法是这样的。在操作界面上，聊天机器人会回答用户咨询的问题。比如，我输入一个问题，询问失业了该怎么办，软件中的代码就会进行处理，然后提供相应的选项。

I’d like to help but first could I do a quick check to see how this is affecting you? Option one – yes, sure; option two – maybe later.

我很想帮忙，但首先我能向你确认此事对你的影响有多大吗？选项一：好的，当然；选项二：稍后再说。

The founders say the year-old chatbot has 200,000 clients, who are using this app for free. The company behind the chatbot makes money from professional therapists and firms that use the app. 

该程序的创始人说，现有20万用户在免费使用这款问世一年的聊天机器人。创造它的公司从使用该程序的专业治疗师和公司赚钱。

Artificial intelligence-based counselling is a new field and there isn’t a clear consensus on how effective it is.

基于人工智能技术的咨询服务是一块全新的领域，人们还未对其有效性达成明确的共识。

词汇

depressed  
消沉的，抑郁的

open up  
畅所欲言

comfort  
安慰

counsellor 
咨询师、顾问

therapy
治疗方法

你知道吗？

The first mobile phone call was made on 3 April 1973. In 2012, a report carried out by the International Telecommunication Union found that there were six billion mobile phone subscriptions worldwide. At the time, the global population was seven billion.

世界上的第一通电话是在1973年4月3日拨通的。在2012年，国际电信联盟的一项研究报告发现，当时世界各地共有六十亿次手机订阅业务。那时，全球有七十亿人口。

问题答案

The app creators earn money from professional therapists and firms that use the software.