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谈到食物，日本人非常认真地对待细节
劳动力严重短缺 日本将无法正常运转？
日本这个亚洲第二大经济体已经是世界上人口最老的国家之一，65 岁及以上的人口占 29%。
从 2022 年到 2040 年，日本的劳动力预计将继续下降 12%，届时估计该国将缺少 1100 万工人。
去年，日本新生儿数量仅有 758631 名，这创下了自 19 世纪有记录以来的新低。
The government's efforts to boost its birth rates have met with little success. In the words of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, his country is "on the brink of not being able to function".
政府提高出生率的努力收效甚微。用日本首相岸田文雄的话说，该国“处于无法正常运转的边缘”。
A shrinking population means Japan has a shortage of workers. Many are hoping that artificial intelligence can pick up the slack.
人口减少意味着日本劳动力短缺。许多人希望人工智能能够填补这一空缺。
大阪王将最近推出了一个已经掌握某些菜肴烹饪的机器人
食品行业：AI 检测饺子
In a country that is known to be obsessed with perfection, damaged or misshapen vegetables and fruits are hard to sell.
在这样一个以追求完美而闻名的国家，受损或畸形的蔬菜和水果很难销售。
A specialist maker of Japanese dumplings, like the brand Osaka Ohsho, then selling a packet of gyoza with some damaged is a big no-no.
对于专业饺子制造商，比如大阪王将（Osaka Ohsho）*品牌，销售一包有损坏的饺子是绝不允许的。
译注：大阪王将（Osaka Ohsho) 是一家源自大阪的煎饺连锁店，以销售大阪风格煎饺为主，总店在大阪心斋桥、道顿堀商圈内，煎饺美味可口。
But as demand surged during the pandemic, its parent firm, Eat&Holdings, simply didn't have enough manpower to check every single dumpling, or keep up with demand.
但因疫情导致需求激增，其母公司 Eat&Holdings 人力不足，难以检查所有饺子。
In January 2023, it opened a high-tech factory equipped with AI-powered cameras trained to detect any faulty gyoza on the production lines.
2023 年 1 月，大阪王将开设高科技工厂，配备训练后的人工智能摄像头，用于检测生产线上的缺陷饺子。
Today this facility makes two dumplings every second. That's twice the speed of the other Osaka Ohsho production sites.
如今，这家工厂每秒能生产两个饺子，是其他大阪王将生产基地速度的两倍。
"By implementing AI, we have reduced the manpower on the manufacturing line by almost 30%," says spokeswoman Keiko Handa.
公司发言人半田圭子（Keiko Handa）表示：“用上人工智能后，我们的生产线人力成本降低了近 30%。”
The firm has also recently launched an AI-powered cooking robot called I-Robo at one of its Tokyo restaurants. As it takes time to train chefs, the company says the technology will help with the labour shortage issue.
该公司还在东京的一家餐厅推出了一款名为 I-Robo 的人工智能烹饪机器人。培训厨师需要时间，因此人工智能有助于解决劳动力短缺问题。
Nichino AI 应用程序允许农民查看他们的作物可能需要哪些处理
农业：AI 预防病虫害
农业是日本老龄化最快的行业之一，目前日本农民的平均年龄为 68.4 岁。而该领域的 AI 可以识别不同类型的疾病、害虫和杂草，以便及早发现和预防。
Nihon Nohyaku, which manufactures agricultural chemicals, has developed a smartphone app called Nichino AI. When a farmer takes a picture of struggling crops, the app gives a diagnosis of what is wrong and which pesticide may be needed.
生产农药的日本农药株式会社开发了一款名为“Nichino AI”的智能手机应用程序。该软件会通过农民所拍的奄奄一息的农作物照片，诊断出其具体问题及解决方案。
"The accuracy rate is about 70 to 80%, so it is not as good as real experts, but better than ordinary farmers," says Kentarou Taniguchi from Nihon Nohyaku."
Nichino AI 准确率大约在 70% 到 80% 之间，所以它不如真正的专家，但比普通农民要好。”日本农药株式会社的田口健太郎（Kentarou Taniguchi）说。
The longer we work on this app, the more we realise how excellent the human experts are," he explains. "But the number of experts is falling, so that is where AI tools can come in handy."
“我们在这个应用程序上工作的时间越长，我们就越意识到人类专家是多么优秀。”他解释道，“但专家的数量正在下降，所以这就是人工智能工具可以派上用场的地方。”
Farmer Kensuke Takahashi, who has been using the app for three years, agrees that AI is one of the tools that will help modernise the sector. "The number of farmers is falling sharply like a rollercoaster," he says, "but Japan's total amount of produce is increasing."
使用这款应用三年的农民高阪宪佑（Kensuke Takahashi）也表示，人工智能是帮助该行业实现现代化的工具之一。“正因如此，在农民数量骤减的情况下，日本总产量仍能递增。”他说。
教育行业：AI英语教师
Despite the government's repeated efforts to increase the number of English speakers, Japan has constantly ranked low in English proficiency, due to the lack of teachers who can effectively speak the language.
尽管政府一再努力增加英语使用者的数量，但由于缺乏能够有效说英语的教师，日本的英语水平一直很低。
To try to overcome this shortfall, a start-up called Ecumenopolis has developed an AI-powered online tool that allows users to have English conversations with its avatar for 15 minutes per session. It has so far been introduced at 50 schools across the country.
为了克服这一不足，一家名为伊克默诺波利斯的初创公司开发了一款人工智能驱动的在线工具，允许用户与它的虚拟形象进行 15 分钟的英语对话，到目前为止，该工具已在全国 50 所学校推出。
法新社、美联社；本报合成
行政机构：日本政府试水AI
Faced with labour shortages, Yokosuka City in Kanagawa prefecture has starting using AI chatbot ChatGPT to help with administrative tasks such as transcribing and summarising meetings.
面对劳动力短缺，神奈川县的横须贺市已经开始使用人工智能聊天机器人 ChatGPT 来帮助完成行政任务，如会议记录和总结。
Thanks to ChatGPT, "we have calculated after our trial that we save 22,700 hours of work annually."
该市发言人表示，多亏了 ChatGPT，“经过试验并计算得出，每年能节省高达 2.27 万小时的工作时间。”
At the national government's Digital Agency, which was established in 2021 to overcome inefficiency in public administration, AI is also used to train its staff."
在 2021 年成立的日本国家数字机构中，人工智能也被用于培训其工作人员。
There are so many things that we want to do, but our manpower hasn't been able to keep up," says Masanori Kusunoki from the agency. He adds that the government is trying to "explore how we can use AI, and spread the information" to the private sector.
“因人力缺失，有些事情力不从心。”该机构的楠木正典（Masanori Kusunoki）说。另外，政府正在努力“探索如何使用人工智能，并将信息传播到私营部门”。
In a country where changes happen slowly, Japan is embracing the power of AI with less reluctance than others.
在变化较为缓慢的日本，接纳 AI 的态度比其他国家更为谨慎。
That is because it has looked into every possible solution to tackle the double whammy of an ageing and shrinking population for more than a decade: from robots, to women, the elderly and foreign workers.
但这十余年来，日本已经用尽了机器人、女性、老年人和外国工人等途径，试图解决老龄化和人口减少的难题。
"Since AI took the world by storm, many have asked if our jobs will be stolen. But for some in Japan, AI cannot arrive fast enough. " The words of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
日本首相岸田文雄表示：“自从人工智能席卷全球以来，许多人都疑心自己的工作是否会被抢走。但对另一部分日本人而言，还是希望 AI 可以来得更快点！”
END
原文链接：
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68225115
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