A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
一个人工智能客服顶了七百个人，平均满意度和人一样：一年后公司把人招了回来，因为平均值把最糟的那批客户藏起来了
One AI Did the Work of Seven Hundred Agents and Scored the Same on Average — a Year Later the Company Hired the Humans Back, Because the Average Was Hiding the Worst Customers
About this story
Klarna launched an AI customer service agent in February 2024: 2.3 million conversations in month one, the work of about 700 agents, two minutes per query against eleven. By mid-2025 it was rehiring humans. Average satisfaction had looked level the whole time, because the distribution was bimodal. Chinese listening practice at four levels. HSK 1 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 1 Chinese listening episode that runs about 3 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 12 key vocabulary words such as 高兴、快、知道 and walks through 3 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 at your level
原文Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.
English transcript reference
Today we are talking about a company.
This company works with money.
A lot of people use this company.
If someone has a problem, they phone.
Some ask: where is my thing?
Some ask: where is my money?
The company has to answer these questions.
Inside the company, people read and people reply.
There are seven hundred of these people.
Seven hundred people, replying every day.
Two years ago, the company had a new idea.
The company said: we will not use people.
We will use computers.
A computer can read too, and it can reply too.
A computer replies very fast.
A person needs eleven minutes.
A computer needs two minutes.
Two minutes is very fast.
The company was delighted.
The company said: look, this is good.
The company said: one computer, the work of seven hundred people.
The company said: this year we can have a lot more money.
Everyone heard about it.
A lot of people said: from now on, this is how it will be.
At that time, there was another company too.
They wrote very big words in a lot of places.
Those words said: stop using people.
Stop using people.
That is what they wrote.
The company we are talking about is in Sweden.
All right. One year later.
The company's boss said: we went too far.
He said: all we thought about was money.
He said: we did not think about anything else.
He said: afterwards, things were not good.
What was not good?
People asked questions, and the computer replied.
It replied very fast.
But what it replied was wrong.
Some of what people asked, the computer did not know.
The computer did not know, and it replied anyway.
And then that person was not happy.
What was the company looking at?
The company was looking at whether people were happy.
Was everybody happy?
Half of them were very happy.
Half of them were very unhappy.
But the company only looked at the number in the middle.
The number in the middle was good.
So the company did not know.
Later the company found out.
The company said: we want people.
Now the people are back.
Here is what I want to say.
The company looked at one number.
That number was good.
But inside that number there was a lot that was not good.
Think about it:
Someone shows you a number.
That number is good.
How do you know there is nothing bad inside it?
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇公司很高兴。 — The company was delighted.
电脑回得很快。 — A computer replies very fast.
大家都知道了这个。 — Everyone heard about it.
两年前，公司想做一个新的东西。 — Two years ago, the company had a new idea.
可是回的东西不对。 — But what it replied was wrong.
我们用电脑。 — We will use computers.
一半人很高兴。 — Half of them were very happy.
今天，我们说一个公司。 — Today we are talking about a company.
可是公司只看中间的数。 — But the company only looked at the number in the middle.
可是公司只看中间的数。 — But the company only looked at the number in the middle.
人要十一分钟。 — A person needs eleven minutes.
公司的头儿说：我们做得太多了。 — The company's boss said: we went too far.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法……得 + adjective
The degree complement. 回得很快 says how the replying was done, not that it happened — Chinese needs 得 to attach the manner.
电脑回得很快。
我们做得太多了。
只 + verb
Only does that one thing. Placed before the verb, 只 is what turns a company's focus into a criticism.
我们只想钱。
可是公司只看中间的数。
A 比 B + adjective
Implicit throughout this episode: two minutes against eleven. Chinese puts 比 and the compared item before the adjective.
人要十一分钟。
电脑要两分钟。
Proper Nouns
专有名词Sources
来源Free account
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