Introduction
AI (Artificial Intelligence) is becoming an increasingly important part of our lives. In such a situation, many people may be vaguely concerned that their jobs may be replaced by AI or may have expectations that their current lives will become more convenient. In this book, we will try to understand what AI is and then think together about what it means to live in the age of AI and realize a better society. To this end, I will present several perspectives that can be helpful.
With academic backgrounds in computer science, cognitive psychology, and pedagogy, the author has long been researching the content and methods of learning the knowledge and skills necessary for an age in which we live in harmony with AI and robots. With this as a foundation, the first chapter introduces what AI can do today. From there, I will tell how our homes and lives will change in the future and how our cities will change, focusing on technology. Then we will stop and think about the direction in which we are heading.
In Chapter 2, we will clarify the mechanisms and concepts of AI. It sheds light on its progress and gives an overview of its potential and limitations. It will also show you what AI research has revealed about the problems with your past study methods and what digital technologies are available today. Finally, it will help you reflect on your daily studies and imagine the near future.
In Chapter 3, we will discuss the challenges facing Japan and the world today, how AI will change our lives and workplaces, and its impact. We need to think about using AI, making rules, and designing our society so that no one is left behind. What views and ways of thinking will help us understand how AI works, use it, and design a society? Let’s look at some of the small but significant trends that are sprouting up in various places and think about them together.
As AI and robots become more common as tools in our daily lives, we will be required to build relationships with them that will lead to the happiness of society as a whole, rather than simply making useful things and knowing how to use them. Chapter 4 delves into “empathy” and “ethics of care,” which will be critical at that time.
Chapter 5 will discuss what junior high school and high school students should learn and what skills they should have now. And how to learn these? For example, programming classes have started in elementary schools. But what is the purpose of this? What kind of knowledge and skills are we trying to acquire? I hope that the future that is just around the corner, a society coexisting with AI and robots, will be a happy society for everyone. And it is up to you to create it.
In the final chapters, I will show you several ways to design a better future. This book provides perspectives for thinking about everything from technical explanations of AI to its social impact. What is essential in the future is for each of us to think, share our ideas, and look back and improve as we implement them. What can AI do to help us design a better future? What should we, humans, do?
Let’s turn the page and take a look at the society of the near future.
August 2021 Noyuri Mima