Why Regular People Are Embracing $200 AI Bills

为何普通人愿为200美元的AI账单买单

Creating an itinerary for a vacation. Planning a workout regime to optimize gains. Generating content ideas for an Instagram-famous dog named Meatball Ravioli.

制定度假行程。规划锻炼计划以优化健身效果。为一只名叫 Meatball Ravioli 的网红狗构思内容创意。

There's no limit these days to the uses of artificial intelligence. The technology promises to do everything faster, smarter and better than humans. But far from the excitement on Wall Street or Silicon Valley, everyday people are embracing AI, hoping to make themselves faster, smarter and better.

如今，人工智能的用途可谓无穷无尽。这项技术承诺能比人类更快、更聪明、更出色地完成各种任务。然而，在华尔街或硅谷的热闹喧嚣之外，普通人也在拥抱人工智能，期望借此让自己变得更快、更聪明、更优秀。

It's been a little more than two years since OpenAI released its chatbot ChatGPT, which opened a public gateway to AI. Before then, the idea of artificial intelligence felt technical and abstract, reserved for engineers and scientists.

自 OpenAI 发布聊天机器人 ChatGPT、为公众打开人工智能的大门以来，已过去两年多时间。在此之前，人工智能的概念显得技术性强且抽象，是工程师和科学家的专属领域。

Now, anyone from stay-at-home moms to financial analysts are using a flood of apps to research, solve problems or even supercharge their work. In fact, more than 35% of Americans report using some kind of AI-enabled product at least once a week, according to a recent Gallup poll. Many are willing to pay too.

如今，从全职妈妈到金融分析师，人人都在使用大量应用程序进行研究、解决问题，甚至提升工作效率。事实上，根据盖洛普最近的一项民意调查，超过35%的美国人表示，他们每周至少使用一次某种人工智能产品。许多人还愿意为此付费。

ChatGPT has a free version of its AI chatbot, but users can pay up to $200 a month for unlimited access to its more advanced models. Paid versions of apps like AI image generator Midjourney and the design app Canva are also growing in popularity, each costing about $10 a month. And for power users, this can mean paying multiple bills, akin to streaming platforms for TV shows. But to them, the cost is worth what feels like extra brain power.

ChatGPT 的聊天机器人有免费版本，但用户每月最多支付200美元，即可无限访问其更高级的模型。像AI图像生成器 Midjourney 和设计应用 Canva 等应用的付费版本也越来越受欢迎，每月费用约为10美元。对于重度用户来说，这可能意味着要支付多笔账单，就像为观看电视节目而订阅流媒体平台一样。但对他们而言，这笔费用换来的额外“脑力”是值得的。

"People are willing to spend money on this kind of stuff," said Vasant Dhar, a professor at New York University's Stern School of Business. "It makes life easier, better and the applications are all across the board, from virtual companions to investing advice."

纽约大学斯特恩商学院教授瓦桑特·达尔说：“人们愿意为这类东西花钱，它让生活变得更轻松、更美好，而且应用范围广泛，从虚拟伴侣到投资建议，无所不包。”

Jessica Valvo in New Jersey has been using ChatGPT and a few other apps to get ideas for filming videos with her French bulldog. With 19,000 followers on Instagram, her dog named Meatball Ravioli is known for wearing costumes like an American flag on the Fourth of July or a mini sombrero while she cooks Mexican food.

新泽西州的杰西卡·瓦尔沃一直在使用 ChatGPT 和其他几款应用程序，为她和她的法国斗牛犬拍摄视频寻找灵感。她在 Instagram 上拥有1.9万名粉丝，她的狗 Meatball Ravioli 以在7月4日穿着美国国旗服装或在她做墨西哥菜时戴着迷你墨西哥宽边帽而闻名。

She hopes by acting on AI-generated ideas and following its advice for engaging an audience, she might be able to monetize her platform. And more and more she finds herself turning to AI for tips on running her household, like making dog treats to save money or prolonging the life of a rug by putting ice cubes on edges that have rolled up.

她希望通过采纳人工智能生成的创意并遵循其吸引观众的建议，实现平台变现。而且，她越来越发现自己会向人工智能寻求管理家庭的建议，比如制作狗狗零食以节省开支，或在卷起的地毯边缘放置冰块以延长其使用寿命。

"I use it anytime I have a question," she said. "I'll just say, 'give me ideas to wash my windows,' and it will come up with ideas."

她说：“我随时有问题都会用它，我会说，‘给我一些擦窗户的主意’，然后它就会给出一些想法。”

For some, AI can even function as a personal assistant or consultant. Will Francis, who works as a content creator and educator in Peak District, England, spends about $80 a month on AI apps outside of ChatGPT. He'll use them to draft emails, transcribe recordings, create and analyze spreadsheets and even make PowerPoint decks.

对一些人来说，人工智能甚至可以充当个人助理或顾问。威尔·弗朗西斯在英国峰区从事内容创作和教育工作，他每月在 ChatGPT 之外的人工智能应用上花费约80美元。他会用这些应用起草电子邮件、转录录音、创建和分析电子表格，甚至制作 PPT。

"I'd say I get a part-time assistant's worth of time, maybe two days a week, out of AI tools in total," he said. The 45 year old, who's trying out the $200 version of ChatGPT, says it works best as a "co-thinker" for analysis and spotting patterns. But that it can also offer a kind of thoughtful engagement he doesn't often get elsewhere. Lately, Francis has been using ChatGPT as a career coach.

他说：“我想说，我从人工智能工具中总共获得了相当于兼职助理的时间，可能一周两天吧。”这位45岁的用户正在试用200美元版本的 ChatGPT，他表示，这款工具在分析和发现模式方面表现最佳，堪称“共同思考者”。而且，它还能提供一种他在其他地方很少能得到的深思熟虑的交流。最近，弗朗西斯一直在用 ChatGPT 作为职业导师。

"I will tell it what I want to achieve; it remembers that," said Francis. "There's something really magic when it says that back to you. It's like, God, you remembered. Like, no one talks to me like that in my real life."

弗朗西斯说：“我会告诉它我想实现什么，它会记住，当它把你说过的话重复给你听时，真的很神奇。就好像，天哪，你记住了。就好像，在现实生活中，没人这样跟我说过话。”

Whether it's writing captions for photos or generating images from text prompts, AI's varied uses make it easy for users to justify a subscription. Duncan Rogoff, a 35 year old who works in motion graphics in San Francisco, says he pays about $50 a month for Midjourney, Anthropic's AI assistant Claude and ChatGPT's Plus tier.

无论是为照片写标题，还是根据文本提示生成图像，人工智能的多样用途让用户很容易为订阅服务找到理由。35岁的邓肯·罗戈夫在旧金山从事动态图形工作，他说，他每月为 Midjourney、Anthropic 的人工智能助理 Claude 以及 ChatGPT 的 Plus 层级支付约50美元。

"It adds up over the course of the year, but I think it's definitely worth it," he said. "It gives me lots of ideas, and it lets me explore and play around and be creative."

他说：“一年下来费用确实不少，但我觉得绝对值得，它给了我很多灵感，让我能够探索、尝试和发挥创造力。”

Meanwhile, Shane Larson in Anchorage, Alaska, said he thinks the AI he pays for is helping him develop skills that will give him a leg up at work. He spends about $300 a month on AI apps and uses them on tasks ranging from the commonplace, like meal planning, to the somewhat-controversial: writing books he then lists on Amazon.

与此同时，阿拉斯加州安克雷奇的谢恩·拉森表示，他认为自己付费使用的人工智能正在帮助他培养技能，从而在工作中占据优势。他每月在人工智能应用上花费约300美元，并将它们用于各种任务，从日常琐事（如制定饮食计划）到颇具争议的事情（如在亚马逊上出售自己撰写的书籍）。

"Some people would say, 'that's a car payment' or 'you could be investing that' and that's true," he said. "But with the amount of learning and experience I gain from using these tools, it gives me an edge that I think is worth it in the long run."

他说：“有些人会说，‘这相当于一笔车贷’或‘你本可以把这笔钱拿去投资’，这确实没错，但通过使用这些工具，我获得了大量的学习和经验，从长远来看，这给了我一个我认为值得的优势。”