A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
7:53
中国年轻人爱问AI怎么穿衣服
Chinese Youth Ask ByteDance's Doubao AI for Fashion Advice — The Douyin Trend Going Viral
HSK 3 Chinese listening practice. Young Chinese ask ByteDance's Doubao AI for fashion advice and post the results to Douyin — a viral styling trend.
This is an HSK 3-4 Chinese listening episode that runs about 8 minutes. The full Mandarin script is shown with tap-for-pinyin and a line-by-line English translation, so you can listen and read at once — comprehensible input in the sense of Stephen Krashen's i+1 theory. It teaches 13 key vocabulary words such as 流行、建议、自信 and walks through 6 grammar patterns, each explained in English with examples. The same news story is retold at 4 difficulty levels — use the level selector above to find the version that is challenging but still understandable for you.
Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.
Speaking of a very interesting phenomenon recently, many young Chinese people have started asking AI on the internet how to dress.
The name of this AI is "Doubao".
It is a software developed by the company ByteDance and is very popular in China.
Although it is a very smart computer program, the fashion advice it gives often makes people laugh until their stomachs hurt.
Recently, on the video app Douyin (TikTok), there have been many videos about Doubao.
In these videos, young people open Doubao's video call function and ask it: "What should I wear today?"
Then, they put on clothes according to Doubao's suggestions and film a video to show everyone.
These videos are very popular and have already been watched by tens of millions of people.
Why does everyone like watching them so much?
Because Doubao's suggestions are often very strange, even a bit crazy.
Let's tell a few funny stories.
There is a very popular video filmed by a female student.
This student wanted to attend a school event, but the weather outside was very cold.
So, she asked Doubao: "It's very cold outside, how should I dress?"
Doubao felt that since it was cold, she definitely needed to wear more clothes.
It suggested that the student wear seven layers of clothes.
You heard that right, seven layers.
It made her wear two T-shirts first, then put on pajamas.
That wasn't enough; she also had to wear a shirt.
Finally, she had to put on a hoodie and two thick coats.
Doubao even praised her, saying that dressing like this was full of "youthful vitality."
This student really listened to it and put all seven layers of clothes on her body.
As a result, she dressed like a big ball and couldn't even bend her arms.
Because she was wearing too much, when she wanted to put on pants, she found she couldn't pull them up at all.
At this moment, Doubao suddenly changed its mind.
It said to that student: "Oh my, you'd better take the clothes off; it will be easier to move that way."
Everyone who saw this video thought it was hilarious.
The computer only knows that when it's cold you need to wear more clothes, but doesn't know that if you wear seven layers, a person can't move.
Besides this story, there are many other jokes.
For example, there was another girl who was going to a concert.
Everyone knows that when going to a concert, you should dress a bit prettier, or a bit cooler.
She asked Doubao how she should dress.
Doubao suggested she roll up the legs of her long pants.
She obediently rolled her pants up very high, all the way above her knees.
So how did it look?
Many viewers commented that this didn't look like going to a concert at all.
She looked like she was going to the river to catch fish, or to work in a rice paddy field.
Although this suggestion was very inappropriate, everyone thought it was very interesting.
There was another person preparing to go to a job interview.
This is a very serious matter, and usually we dress very formally.
But Doubao gave her a very special suggestion.
It told her to wear a denim jacket, and then wear a pair of red shorts underneath.
Why red shorts?
Doubao explained that because red represents good luck, it is an "auspicious" color.
It felt that if you wear red shorts, the interview will go very smoothly.
However, if you really wear red shorts to see a manager, the manager might feel you don't respect the job.
There are more and more of these videos on the internet.
Many young people now intentionally go and ask Doubao these questions.
It's not that they really don't know how to dress.
They do this because they think it's fun and want to film videos to attract other people's attention.
The stranger Doubao's advice is, the more people watch the video.
Everyone discovered that when Doubao speaks, it is very confident.
It not only gives advice but also encourages you like a teacher.
It will say loudly: "Walk out confidently!"
Or say: "If you don't dress like this, you aren't human!"
This way of speaking, paired with those strange clothes, makes the videos even funnier.
So, let's discuss why such smart artificial intelligence is so stupid when it comes to fashion.
An expert explained the reason in the news.
He said that software like Doubao has learned from many, many pictures and data.
However, it hasn't specifically learned what "fashion" is or what "beauty" is.
It just looks at many different pictures together.
For example, it might have seen someone roll up their pants in the past and thought that was cool.
But it doesn't know that was a trend from decades ago, or that people only dress like that when playing by the river.
It doesn't understand that different environments require different clothes.
It doesn't know that an interview and a concert are completely different activities.
Furthermore, fashion is a very subjective thing.
Everyone has different views on what looks good.
There is no standard answer for this.
For a computer, if a question has no standard answer, it finds it very difficult.
Math problems have right and wrong answers, but dressing has no absolute right or wrong.
So, Doubao can only randomly combine some clothes based on the data it sees.
This leads to those strange results we see.
Although Doubao acts like a little fool when it comes to dressing, it is really popular in China.
Up to now, more than 200 million people have used it.
Besides asking about dressing, people also use it to do many useful things.
For example, some mothers use the video call function to let Doubao help watch their children.
Some people ask Doubao how to make dishes taste better when they are cooking.
Even if you are buying fruit in the supermarket and don't know which fruit is sweet, Doubao can help you pick.
It is actually a very convenient tool that helps everyone solve many small problems in life.
It's just that in terms of fashion and art, it isn't smart enough yet.
This also teaches us a lesson.
Although current technology is developing very fast and computers are becoming smarter and smarter.
However, there are some things computers cannot do.
Like art, beauty, and these complex feelings, we humans are still better.
If you really want to dress well, it's best to ask your friends or look at fashion magazines.
If you ask Doubao, it might make you wear pajamas to a wedding.
Of course, if you just want to have fun or film a funny video, then Doubao is definitely a best friend.
Watching these videos, we can also feel that everyone's life pressure is relatively high, so they are all finding opportunities to relax.
This phenomenon of treating artificial intelligence as a friend to joke with is also a new form of entertainment for young people.
They don't treat Doubao as a cold machine, but as a slightly clumsy but very cute friend.
With the progress of technology, perhaps Doubao will understand fashion better in the future.
Perhaps one day, it really will be able to help us choose the most beautiful clothes.
But for now, let's just treat it as a joke.
After all, happiness is also a very important part of life.
If you haven't tried it yet, maybe you can take out your phone and ask Doubao what you should wear tomorrow.
No matter what it says, I believe you will definitely laugh very happily.
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
Used to describe things that are widespread or fashionable.
Can be used as a noun or a verb.
Feeling sure of oneself.
Used to emphasize an extreme case.
Indicates something happens frequently under certain circumstances.
Preposition indicating basis or conformity.
HSK 1-3. audience.
Refers to a fact or situation that is observed to exist.
Refers to the state of being strong and active.
Describes something that brings good luck.
To say good things about someone.
Based on personal feelings rather than facts.
Describes a situation or person that is not joking.
* beyond level超纲词
既然……(那)就……
Since... then... (Used to infer a conclusion from a premise)
豆包觉得，既然冷，那就一定要多穿衣服。
不但……还……
Not only... but also... (Indicates an additional quality or action)
它不但给建议，还会像老师一样鼓励你。
把 + Object + Verb + Result
The 'Ba' sentence structure (Used to emphasize the handling or disposal of an object)
这个学生真的听了它的话，把七层衣服都穿在身上了。
豆包建议她把长裤子的裤腿卷起来。
连……都……
Even... (Used to emphasize an extreme case)
结果，她穿得像一个大圆球，连胳膊都弯不了。
越……越……
The more... the more... (Indicates that one change causes another)
如果豆包的建议越奇怪，看视频的人就越多。
电脑变得越来越聪明。
随着……
Along with... / With the... (Indicates a change occurring in conjunction with another)
随着技术的进步，也许以后豆包会变得更懂时尚。
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