雙語：爲提高生育率 日本擬資助人工智能“紅娘”
爲了提高本國的生育率，日本政府可謂是絞盡腦汁。最近日本又決定資助人工智能婚戀配對項目，希望高科技的“紅娘”可以幫人們找到真愛。
Japan plans to boost its tumbling birth rate by funding artificial intelligence matchmaking schemes to help residents find love.
爲了提高不斷下滑的生育率，日本計劃資助人工智能婚戀配對項目來幫助居民找到真愛。
From next year it will subsidise local governments already running or starting projects that use AI to pair people up.
從明年起，日本政府將補貼那些已經在運營或剛剛啓動人工智能婚戀配對項目的地方政府。
Last year the number of babies born in Japan fell below 865,000 - a record low.
The fast-greying nation has long been searching for ways to reverse one of the world's lowest fertility rates.
長時間以來，這個快速老齡化的國家一直在尋找逆轉世界最低生育率的方法。
Boosting the use of AI tech is one of its latest efforts.
Next year the government plans to allocate local authorities 2bn yen to boost the birth rate, reported AFP news agency.
據法新社報道，明年日本政府計劃給地方政府撥款20億日元（約合人民幣1.3億元）以提高生育率。
Many already offer human-run matchmaking services and some have introduced AI systems in the hope they will perform a more sophisticated analysis of the standardised forms where people submit their details.
許多地方政府已經在提供人工婚介服務，一些政府推出了人工智能系統，希望能夠對人們提交的標準化詳情表進行更精密的分析。
A few of the existing systems are limited to considering criteria such as income and age, only producing a result if there is an exact match.
現有的幾個人工智能系統只限於分析收入和年齡等標準，只有在完全匹配的情況下才會出結果。
Local media say that the funding aims to allow authorities to harness more costly advanced systems that take into account factors like hobbies and values.
當地媒體稱，這項撥款旨在讓地方政府採用更昂貴的人工智能高級系統，可以分析愛好和價值觀等因素。
"We are especially planning to offer subsidies to local governments operating or starting up matchmaking projects that use AI," a cabinet official told AFP. "We hope this support will help reverse the decline in the nation's birthrate."
一名內閣官員告訴法新社說：“我們計劃重點向運營或剛啓動人工智能婚戀配對項目的地方政府提供補貼。我們希望這一支持能幫助逆轉日本生育率下降的趨勢。”
Japan's population is projected to fall from a peak of 128 million in 2017 to less than 53 million by the end of the century.
據估計，到本世紀末，日本人口將從2017年的峰值1.28億將至不到5300萬。
Policymakers are racing to ensure the country's contracting workforce can meet the expanding costs of welfare.
決策者正在和時間賽跑，確保日本不斷縮水的勞動人口能負擔不斷增加的福利支出。
Sachiko Horiguchi, a socio-cultural and medical anthropologist at Japan's Temple University, thinks there are better ways for the government to bump up the birth rate than subsidising AI matchmaking - such as helping young people earning low wages.
天普大學日本分校的社會文化和醫學人類學家堀口幸子認爲，政府有比補貼人工智能配對更好的方法來提高生育率，比如給那些低工資的年輕人提供幫助。
She pointed to a recent report which suggests a link between lower income levels and the loss of interest in romantic relationships among young Japanese adults.
她指出，最近的一份研究報告表明，日本年輕成人的低收入水平和無心談戀愛有關聯。
"If they're not interested in dating, the matchmaking would likely be ineffective," Dr Horiguchi told the BBC. "If we are to rely on technologies, affordable AI robots taking over household or childcare tasks may be more effective."
堀口博士告訴BBC稱：“如果他們對約會沒興趣，那麼婚戀配對很可能沒有效果。如果我們要依靠技術來解決問題，讓平價的智能機器人幫忙幹家務或照顧孩子可能會更有效。”
Analysts have long pointed towards the lack of support for working mothers in Japan, where there are strong expectations women will do all the housework and raise children alongside doing their jobs.
很早以前，分析人員就指出日本的職場母親缺乏支持，日本社會有一種很強的觀念，認爲女性除了工作，還應該包攬全部家務並養育孩子。
The government has said it wants to encourage more women into full-time employment in recent years but the gender gap has grown.
近年來日本政府表示，想鼓勵更多女性做全職工作，但是性別鴻溝卻一直在擴大。
Japan ranked 121st out of 153 countries in a 2019 report on gender equality by the World Economic Forum, slipping down 11 places from the year before.