A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels

人工智能做视频的新问题
TikTok's Seedance AI Puts Kanye West, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li in Fake Videos
About this story
AI video tool Seedance lets anyone make fake clips of Kanye West, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li on TikTok. HSK 2 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 2 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 14 key vocabulary words such as 聪明、简单、奇怪 and walks through 5 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.
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原文Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.
English transcript reference
Speaking of a recent new computer software, this is really a very interesting matter.
We all know that computers nowadays are very smart.
Computers can help us do a lot of work.
Before, we used computers to write.
We used computers to listen to music.
Later, we could use computers to watch movies.
But now, computers can make movies by themselves.
This is the news we want to talk about.
There is a very famous Chinese company.
This company made TikTok, which everyone likes very much.
Last week, this company released a new thing.
It is a new computer software.
Its name is Seedance.
This software is very impressive.
Why do we say it is impressive?
Because the things it makes are too real.
Before, if you wanted to make a movie, you needed many things.
You needed a lot of money.
You needed many beautiful people.
You needed very good cameras.
You also needed to go to many different places.
This was very difficult.
If you wanted to make a good movie, it might take a few years.
But now, with this software, it is different.
Do you know how to do it?
It is very simple.
You just have to sit at home.
You turn on the computer.
You give the computer a photo.
Or, you write a few words.
You tell the computer what you want to see.
For example, you want to see a person singing.
Or two people dancing together.
After you finish writing the words, wait one minute.
Just one minute.
The computer finishes it.
The computer gives you a small movie.
The people in this small movie are just like real people.
Their eyes can move.
Their mouths can move.
Their hair can also move.
When you look at it, you feel that this is real.
This is too surprising.
Because this software is so easy to use, many people are playing with it.
Everyone has made many fun little movies.
I will tell you a few examples.
There is a very famous American singer.
He is called Kanye West.
Everyone knows him.
Someone used this software to make a video.
In the video is Kanye West.
He is inside a Chinese house.
He is singing a Chinese song.
This is very strange.
Because Kanye West is American.
He cannot speak Chinese.
But in the video, he sings very well.
His mouth moves correctly too.
This is what the computer made.
There is another example.
Do everyone know Jackie Chan and Jet Li?
They are very famous Chinese movie stars.
Someone used a computer to make a video of them fighting.
This looks like an old movie from before.
But this is not real either.
This was thought up by the computer.
Someone also used the computer to make American movie stars.
For example, Brad Pitt.
In the video, he is fighting.
You look at his face, it really is him.
You look at his clothes, they also look very real.
This is the ability of this new software.
Anyone can make movies like this.
You don't need to be a filmmaker.
You also don't need to have a lot of money.
Because this software currently costs no money.
Or it only costs very little money.
For many ordinary people, this is a good thing.
We can make many interesting things.
We can make our own movies.
This is really fun.
However, not everyone is happy.
This matter makes some people very angry.
Who is angry?
It is the American movie companies.
For example, the Disney company that everyone knows.
And the Paramount company.
These big companies are very unhappy.
Why?
Because they feel this software stole their things.
Think about it, how does the computer know how to make movies?
The computer must learn first.
The computer watched many, many movies.
Whose movies are these?
These movies belong to Disney.
They belong to those big companies.
The computer watched their movies and learned how to do it.
Then, the computer made new things.
But, the company that made this software did not give the big companies money.
So, American movie companies feel this is not right.
They say, you cannot use our movies to teach your computer.
If everyone uses computers to make movies, who will still go to the movie theater?
This is a big problem.
There is another problem about people.
It is about those famous stars.
For example, Tom Cruise.
His face is very valuable.
If I want to hire him to make a movie, I have to give him a lot of money.
But now, I use this software, and I can make his movie.
I don't need to give him money.
He speaks and does things in the video.
But none of this is what he wants to do himself.
This is what I made him do.
Is this fair to him?
If you were a star, you might also be unhappy.
Because someone used your face to do some strange things.
Maybe he said some bad words in the video.
But everyone thinks it was you who said it.
This will cause you a lot of trouble.
So, now there are many arguments.
On one side are the people who think it is fun.
Everyone feels this is a new technology.
This makes making things very easy.
This is a good thing.
Everyone is very excited.
Everyone is downloading this software.
Everyone is making all kinds of videos.
But on the other side, are the movie companies and stars.
They feel this is not right.
They want the law to protect them.
They say, this is our stuff, you cannot use it casually.
This is just like if you painted a picture.
Someone took your picture to learn how to paint.
Then he painted many pictures that were the same.
But he didn't tell you.
Do you think this is okay?
This is a very difficult question to answer.
Right now, the law is not ready yet.
Because technology develops too fast.
Last year's computers were not this smart yet.
This year's computers can already make movies.
We don't know what next year will be like.
Maybe next year, computers can make longer movies.
Maybe we can see brand new movie stars.
They are not real people.
They are all made by computers.
This is really interesting, and also worrying.
What we just talked about is actually about the software "Seedance 2.0".
This is called artificial intelligence video technology.
It allows us to make videos very easily.
But it also brings many problems regarding "copyright".
Copyright means whose thing this is.
Now, Chinese and American companies are discussing this problem.
Filmmakers are very worried.
Tech people are very happy.
This is how it is now.
We don't know what will happen in the end.
But we can see that the world changes very fast.
We need to be ready to learn new things.
Maybe one day, you can also use a computer to make a big movie.
That must be very interesting.
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇Describes a person or, in this case, a computer/software that is intelligent.
Opposite of difficult (难). Used to describe how easy the software is to use.
Describes something unusual or unexpected.
A conjunction indicating a necessary condition. Often used with '就'.
Used to indicate time after an event (e.g., 'writing words' 以后).
HSK 1-2. interesting.
HSK 1-2. why.
Computer programs. 'Soft' (软) + 'Item/Component' (件).
A very common colloquial word. Can mean 'strict' or 'fierce', but here means 'amazing'.
Literally 'bright star'. Refers to famous actors or singers.
Used here to discuss the ethics of using an actor's face without paying them.
Refers to the rules of a country that protect people's rights.
Literally 'printing rights'. The legal right to be the only one to reproduce a work.
Man-made (人工) + Intelligence (智能).
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法This structure is used to emphasize a specific detail of a past event or a fact, such as who did it, how it was done, or where it happened.
这就是我们要说的新闻。
这就是电脑做的。
是美国的电影公司。
Simile structure meaning 'looks like' or 'is the same as'.
这个小电影里的人,就像真的人一样。
这看起来像是以前的老电影。
这就像如果你画了一幅画。
Construct meaning 'As long as... then...' or 'You only need to... and then...'. It indicates a sufficient condition.
你只要坐在家里。
只要一分钟。电脑就做好了。
Meaning 'For [someone]...' or 'From the perspective of [someone]...'. Used to introduce an opinion.
这对很多普通人来说,是一件好事。
这对她来说,公平吗?
Causative verb 'rang' meaning 'to make/let someone do something' or 'to make someone feel [emotion]'.
这太让人吃惊了。
这件事情让一些人非常生气。
它让我们可以很容易地做视频。
Proper Nouns
专有名词Sources
来源Free account
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