Technology & Digital Life

Introduction

Modern Mandarin slang moves fast, and one of the best ways to hear that energy is through how people talk about technology and digital life. This chapter gathers the expressions speakers reach for in that space, so you can catch the humour, attitude, and social texture behind the words instead of translating them too literally.

Use these phrases as a guide to how internet culture, group identity, and everyday conversation shape contemporary Chinese.

All Chinese Slang in This Chapter (40)

1. 刷屏 shuā píng To flood a screen or feed with repeated messages or posts.
2. 刷脸 shuā liǎn To use facial recognition for access, payment, or identity verification.
3. 信息茧房 xìn xī jiǎn fáng An algorithmic information bubble or filter cocoon.
4. 数字游民 shù zì yóu mín A digital nomad who works online while moving between places.
5. 断网 duàn wǎng To lose internet connection or be disconnected from the network.
6. 卡顿 kǎ dùn Digital lag, stuttering, or choppy performance.
7. 闪退 shǎn tuì For an app or program to crash and close suddenly.
8. 黑科技 hēi kē jì Advanced, surprisingly powerful, or almost futuristic technology.
9. 算法 suàn fǎ An algorithm, especially a recommendation system shaping what users see online.
10. 大数据 dà shù jù Big data systems, often imagined as platform analysis behind recommendations and decisions.
11. 沉浸式 chén jìn shì Immersive or designed to make someone feel fully absorbed.
12. 电子榨菜 diàn zǐ zhà cài Light digital content consumed casually while eating, like a side dish for meals.
13. 云端 yún duān The cloud; remote internet-based storage, computing, or services.
14. 数字分身 shù zì fēn shēn A digital avatar, replica, or AI-based version of a person.
15. 赛博朋克 sài bó péng kè Cyberpunk: a high-tech, low-life futuristic aesthetic or genre.
16. 元宇宙 yuán yǔ zhòu Metaverse: a persistent digital world or immersive virtual social space.
17. 人工智能 rén gōng zhì néng Artificial intelligence: computer systems that perform tasks associated with human intelligence.
18. 生成式AI shēng chéng shì ai Generative AI: AI systems that create text, images, audio, code, or other content.
19. AIGC aigc AI-generated content, especially text, images, video, audio, or design assets produced with AI.
20. 大模型 dà mó xíng A large AI model, especially a large language or multimodal foundation model.
21. 智能体 zhì néng tǐ An AI agent or autonomous intelligent entity that can pursue tasks with tools or steps.
22. 提示词 tí shì cí A prompt: the instruction or input given to an AI system.
23. 算法推荐 suàn fǎ tuī jiàn Algorithmic recommendation: content or products pushed by platform algorithms.
24. 信息流 xìn xī liú An information feed: a scrolling stream of posts, ads, or recommended content.
25. AI绘画 ai huì huà AI-generated or AI-assisted image creation.
26. AI写作 ai xiě zuò AI-assisted writing or text generation.
27. AI助手 ai zhù shǒu An AI assistant used to help with tasks, questions, or workflows.
28. 大模型幻觉 dà mó xíng huàn jué A hallucination from a large AI model: fluent output that is false or unsupported.
29. 提示词工程 tí shì cí gōng chéng Prompt engineering: designing prompts to guide AI output.
30. 知识库问答 zhī shí kù wèn dá Question answering grounded in a knowledge base.
31. 数字人直播 shù zì rén zhí bō Livestreaming hosted by a digital human or virtual presenter.
32. 虚拟主播 xū nǐ zhǔ bō A virtual streamer or avatar-based host.
33. 云办公 yún bàn gōng Cloud-based office work using online tools and files.
34. 远程协作 yuǎn chéng xié zuò Remote collaboration across locations.
35. 低代码 dī dài mǎ Low-code development using visual tools and limited manual coding.
36. 无代码 wú dài mǎ No-code building with tools that require little or no programming.
37. 自动化工作流 zì dòng huà gōng zuò liú An automated workflow connecting tasks, tools, or approvals.
38. 插件生态 chā jiàn shēng tài The ecosystem of plugins around a platform or tool.
39. 数据看板 shù jù kàn bǎn A data dashboard for tracking metrics visually.
40. 智能硬件 zhì néng yìng jiàn Smart hardware with sensors, connectivity, or intelligent features.