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BUSINESS ENGLISH · SPECIAL REPORT · UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)

CHINA’S VIRTUAL
PEOPLE INDUSTRY
BOOMS

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1 Warm up
Discuss the following questions.

1. How is artificial intelligence changing the way businesses operate?

2. What are the potential benefits and drawbacks of using AI in the workplace?
3. How can businesses ensure that the integration of AI is ethical and fair to employees?
4. Will AI ultimately lead to job losses or will it create new job opportunities?

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2 Listening for gist

Listen to the news report about a new trend in Chinese companies and answer the following questions.

1. Why are Chinese businesses investing in virtual influencers and performers?

2. How has the cost of creating virtual individuals changed in the past year?

3. What is the expected annual growth rate of the virtual human industry through 2025?

3 Listening comprehension
Listen to the news report again and decide if the following statements are true (T) or false (F).

1. Tech company, Baidu has seen a significant increase in the number of projects involving virtual
influencers and performers in the past year. T

2. The cost of creating virtual individuals has increased in the past year. F

3. Li Shiyan, head of Baidu’s virtual people and robotics division, expects the virtual human industry
to decline in the coming years. F

4. At least 36% of consumers in China watched a digital celebrity or influencer perform in the past
T
year.

5. The rise of virtual influencers and performers poses a threat to real people’s jobs in the
entertainment industry. T

6. It’s important for businesses to ensure the use of virtual talent is transparent and accountable.
T

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4 Pre-reading: vocabulary

Part A: Match the vocabulary to the definitions.

1. labor market (n) a. present a danger or risk to someone or something

2. avatars (n) b. digital presenters or broadcasters who use special technology

to reach their audience
3. virtual anchors (n) c. relating to industry or the production of goods in factories

4. pose a threat (idiom) d. digital representations of a person or entity in a computer

game, social media platform, or other virtual environment
5. research paper (n) e. a written report containing the results of original research

6. industrial (adj.) f. property, especially land or buildings, considered as a

commodity
7. real estate (n) g. the supply of and demand for jobs in an economy

Part B: Now put the vocabulary from Part A into the correct gaps in the following sentences.

1. Many people use avatars to represent themselves in virtual reality games.

2. The labor market in China has been impacted by the rise of robots in industry.

3. The industrial sector in China has seen significant growth in recent years.

4. The results of the study were published in a research paper .

5. Many people invest in real estate as a way to generate income.

6. Some news programs now use virtual anchors to present the news more interactively.

7. The use of artificial intelligence in the workplace could pose a threat to jobs.

5 Reading for gist

You are going to read a text about the virtual human industry (page four). Scan the text quickly and
match the headings with the correct paragraph.

1. Threat to human workforce

2. Virtual humans in Chinese cyberspace

3. Introduction to virtual humans in China

4. Negative impact on Chinese workers

5. Virtual human industry in China

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Virtual Humans in China

Threat to Human Workforce

A.

Virtual humans, or digitized individuals that can perform and interact on live streams, have become increasingly
popular in China’s entertainment industry. The virtual human industry is expected to see tremendous expansion,
with applications in various sectors such as broadcasting, entertainment, shopping, banking, and education.
According to a report from CNBC, tech company Baidu has seen a doubling of the number of virtual human
projects it has worked on for clients in the past year, with prices ranging from $2,672 to $13,847 per year. The
cost of creating a three-dimensional virtual human has also fallen by about 80% in the past year and now stands
at around $97,175 per year, while a two-dimensional virtual human costs almost $19,000.

B.

After the success of virtual currencies and real estate, companies in China are looking for new ways to generate
revenue streams from virtual humans. These virtual individuals, which are a combination of animation, sound
technology, and machine learning, have taken Chinese cyberspace by storm. Li Shiyan, head of Baidu’s virtual
people and robotics business, predicts that the virtual human industry will grow by 50% annually through 2025.
In August, Beijing city announced plans to build an industry worth over $4.86 billion by 2025, and the country’s
five-year plan released last year called for greater digitalization of the economy, including in virtual and augmented
reality.

C.

Video and game streaming app, Bilibili was one of the first to bring virtual humans mainstream, acquiring the team
behind virtual singer Luo Tianyi. This year, the developers focused on improving the texture of the virtual singer’s
voice using artificial intelligence algorithms. Launched in 2012, Luo Tianyi has almost 3 million fans and even
performed at the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing this year. Bilibili also hosts many virtual anchors
or avatars of people using special technology to reach their audience. Tencent’s Next Studios has developed a
virtual singer and virtual sign language interpreter, and Tencent Cloud AI Digital Humans provide chatbots for
sectors such as financial services and tourism for automated customer support.

D.

According to global market research, the global digital human market is predicted to reach $492 billion in 2030,
with a compound annual growth rate of 46.4%. However, the rise of virtual humans poses a threat to the human
workforce. In a National Bureau of Economic Research paper published in December, economists Osea Giuntella
of the University of Pittsburgh, Yi Lu of Tsinghua University, and Tianyi Wang of the University of Toronto wrote
that "exposure to robots had negative effects on employment, leading some workers to drop out of the labor force
and increasing unemployment." Using data from over 15,000 families, the economists evaluated the effects of
industrial robots on the Chinese labor market and found that the workforce struggled to "adjust" to the significant
changes brought about by robotics.

E.

The emergence of robots has not always been beneficial to Chinese workers. For example, between 2012 and
2016, Foxconn, the main iPhone manufacturer for Apple, replaced over 400,000 human jobs with robots in an
automation push.

Sources: Tech Times, Moneycontrol

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6 Reading for details

Read the article again (page four) and decide if the following statements are true (T) or false (F).

1. Virtual humans are created using a combination of animation, sound technology, and machine
learning.

2. Li Shiyan, head of Baidu’s virtual people and robotics business, expects the virtual human industry
to grow by 50% annually through 2025.

3. Beijing city has announced plans to build an industry worth over $4.86 million by 2025.

4. Bilibili was the first company to bring virtual humans mainstream.

5. The virtual singer Luo Tianyi was launched in 2012 and has almost 3 million fans.

6. Tencent’s Next Studios has developed a virtual sign language interpreter.

7. The rise of virtual humans has always been helpful to Chinese workers.

8. Foxconn replaced over 400,000 human jobs with robots between 2012 and 2016.

7 Talking point

In pairs, discuss the following questions.

1. How can businesses ensure that they have the necessary skills and training to effectively use AI
in their operations?
2. How can businesses address potential concerns about AI replacing human decision-making?
3. How can businesses balance the benefits of AI with the need to maintain a human element in their
operations?
4. How can businesses use AI to improve customer service and satisfaction?
5. How can businesses ensure that their use of AI is transparent and accountable to stakeholders?
6. How can businesses use AI to improve efficiency and productivity in their operations?

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8 Homework: vocabulary extension

Part A: Go back to the article on page four and find expressions that match the following definitions.

Group 1:

1. (n): a combination of two or more things

2. (v): do or present (a play, piece of music, or other entertainment)

3. (adj.): existing or resulting from computer technology and not having a

physical or tangible form
4. (n): the action of transmitting television or radio programs

5. (adj.): having or appearing to have depth as well as width and height

6. (v): increase by a factor of two

Group 2:

1. (n): the action or process of enlarging or becoming bigger

2. (n): a real-time video or audio broadcast over the Internet

3. (n): the increase in size or amount over a period of one year

4. (adj.): transformed into a digital form

5. (n): the feel, appearance, or consistency of a surface or substance

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Part B: Complete the dialogue using vocabulary from Part A. Note that not every word will be used.

Alex: Have you heard about virtual humans in China?

John: No, what are they?

1 2
Alex: They are individuals that can
3
and interact on live . They are becoming more popular
in the entertainment industry.
John: That sounds interesting. What other sectors are they used in?
4
Alex: The virtual human industry is expected to have significant ,
5
with applications in , entertainment, shopping, banking,
and education.
John: Wow, that’s a lot of applications. How many virtual human projects has Baidu worked
on?
6
Alex: According to a report, Baidu has seen a of the number
of virtual human projects it has worked on for clients in the past year.
John: How much does it cost to create a virtual human?
7
Alex: The cost of creating a virtual human has fallen in the
past year and now stands at over $97,000 per year. A two-dimensional virtual human
costs almost $19,000.
John: That’s a lot of money. How has the virtual human market grown?

Alex: The global digital human market is predicted to reach $492 billion in 2030, with an
8
rate of 46.4%.

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