每日英語跟讀 Ep.K023: About Japan -Japan to fund AI matchmaking to boost birth rate
Japan plans to boost its tumbling birth rate by funding artificial intelligence matchmaking schemes to help residents find love.
日本計畫透過資助人工智慧配對相親計畫，幫助國民尋找愛情，以提高該國不斷下降的出生率。
From next year it will subsidize local governments already running or starting projects that use AI to pair people up.
從明年開始，日本政府將提供補貼，資助地方政府已經在運行以及新啟動的人工智慧配對相親項目。
Last year the number of babies born in Japan fell below 865,000 - a record low.
去年，日本新生嬰兒數跌破86.5萬，創下歷史新低。
The fast-greying nation has long been searching for ways to reverse one of the world’s lowest fertility rates.
日本的生育率為全世界最低的國家之一，這個快速高齡化的國家長期以來一直在尋找扭轉局面的方法。
Boosting the use of AI tech is one of its latest efforts.
加強人工智慧技術的運用，是其最新舉措之一。
Next year the government plans to allocate local authorities 2bn yen to boost the birth rate, reported AFP news agency.
據法新社報導，日本政府計畫明年撥款20億日圓給地方政府，以提高出生率。
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.
許多企業已經提供了人工婚介服務，一些已經引入AI系統，希望能夠對民眾提交的標準化表格進行更精密的分析。
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Japan set to target zero emissions by 2050 in policy shift 日本政策轉變準備2050年達到零碳排
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is set to bind Japan to a target for carbon neutrality by 2050, a shift in stance that will bring the country in line with the European Union and more than 60 other nations in efforts to combat climate change.
首相菅義偉要訂出日本須在2050年前達到零碳排的目標，此立場轉移將使該國在力抗氣候變遷上，與歐盟和其他60多國一致。
Japan previously said it would aim to reduce emissions by 80% by 2050 and achieve net-zero emissions sometime in the latter half of the century.
之前日本說會設定2050年達到削減碳排量80%的目標，並且在本世紀後半葉某個時間點做到淨零碳排。
Japan is the world’s fifth-biggest emitter of carbon dioxide. Under pressure from many business sectors, moves are also afoot to increase the use of renewable energy as the government starts forcing the shutdown of older, dirtier coal plants.
日本目前是全球第五大二氧化碳排放國。在許多產業界的壓力下，政府著手強制老舊火力發電廠關閉的同時，也正增加採用可再生能源等措施。
Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1416436 ; https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1421876
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