~ AI for Peace and Equality ~

“Introduction“

“I think I use AI quite often. I use Siri everyday, especially when I’m in the middle of cooking. It can play music and set an alarm for me – it’s convenient!”

These are the words of Ryo, a junior at a private university in Tokyo. At the time we interviewed Ryo he was very busy with his part-time job and job hunting.

How does Ryo see the role of AI in a future society? We encouraged him to think about what he would expect from AI, bearing in mind his own situation and interests.

“Society and Myself in 2050 ‘I hope there is no discrimination“

When we asked him about how he envisages his future in 2050, he said “ I want to get permanent residency rights and live in foreign countries. And I don’t want to be judged by my nationality. And I hope that there’s no nuclear power or food waste in the future.” He seemed to be in favor of solving as many of our social issues and problems as possible.

When we asked him what kind of AI should be created to solve those issues, his reply was “Personally I want the Immigration Bureau to be impartial, so I hope the AI can assist people to enter the country without facing the subjective judgment of humans. And I also want an auto-translation system! So many different languages are used in the European area.  So I envisage an outstanding system which will enable me to communicate with people all over that area even if I can’t speak every single language. If we have an effective translation system, then many people could travel more easily.”He has a clear interest in living in a European country in the future. Since he’s interested in working overseas, he focused on describing a future world in which Japanese people can feel more comfortable living overseas through utilizing the technology of AI.

Ryo dreams of AI putting an end to the problem of discrimination. However we also know that AI could actually generate instances of discrimination, since some cases have been reported in which  AI gives preferential treatment to white people. Ryo’s hope that AI could reduce discrimination reminded us how serious our current issues are and that we should truly aspire to use future AI for equality and peace.

“Surveillance Society ‘I definitely don’t want society to become a difficult world”

Ryo also had a time when he was absorbed in studying history, and he talked about the surveillance society while talking about the war.

Regarding the current society, which can be said to be constantly monitored by security cameras, “It may reduce crime and human behavior may be a little better, but when I recall Japan before the war, people who felt unfavorable to the military and the government were taken by the military police and were put on the board by the political police and it was like a world where everyone was “watched”. In the movie “In This Corner of The World,” there was a story that even the quiet girl was suspected of being a spy just by sketching the coastline.

I strongly felt that Ryo is seeking a good surveillance society so that it will not become a difficult world to live in, based on the good and bad aspects of the surveillance society.

“Lastly“

Ryo, who uses AI such as Siri from everyday life, seemed to have a positive impression on AI at first. However, instead of affirming everything, he had a fear of a society in which humans are dominated by AI and sought a society in which humans can make good use of AI, and humans can stand on AI to the last.

We hope that this article will give you an opportunity to reconsider the persistent discrimination and war (surveillance society).

From now on, we would like to think deeply about how to interact well with AI and hope that the world in 2050 will become an equal and peaceful society through AI.