Children’s growth and AI

Ryota (pseudonym) is a 21-year-old third-year university student. He is currently studying to become a civil servant. He says he has little knowledge about AI and robots, and also rarely uses them. During this session, we interviewed him about how he envisaged an ideal society  50 years from now.

The Ideal Society

For Ryota, the ideal society in 50 years is “one where children can grow up in a healthy way”.

“In Japan, there are more and more parents who can’t raise their children, or children who don’t have parents at home or don’t have siblings, and I think that’s not a good environment for children to grow up in. In that sense, I would like to see an optimal society for children to form their own ego and become adults properly.”

He is interested in education because he is aiming to become a public servant, and he passionately expressed his desire for a society which works  healthily as a place where families raise their children successfully.

The Ideal Robot

As a first step to realizing such a society, Ryota seems to think that using AI and robots will be very effective.

Ryota’s ideal robot

This is a picture of an ideal robot drawn by Ryota. He says this robot would perform various household chores such as cleaning, laundry, and cooking. He believes that this will increase the amount of time the family can spend together and lead to a happy home environment. Imagine a robot that can do all your chores for you, giving you more time to relax at home and make your daily life richer.

AI and robots in the field of education

School education is a big part of a child’s growth. Ryota seemed to be in favor of AI in schools to assist learning, but he thought that we also need people like counselors.

“I think the point of a school is to bring people together, and I think we need adults who can look after pupils if they have problems. These could be similar counselors, who can look after pupils’ development.”

In other words, he thinks that the roles should be divided, with AI helping us with our studies and humans teaching us about other things. He notes: “Thinking back, schoolteachers taught us more than just studying. They greeted us cheerfully, praised us when we did something worthwhile, and scolded us when we got into fights. It is also the role of the teacher to guide the children in a sound direction.”

If you want to study, you can do it by just reading books, but school is not only a place to study, but also a place to learn about society. Ryota’s idea was that AI can assist in learning, but only people can help students learn to cooperate and be socially aware.

He believes that no matter how close AI and robots get to humans, there is a crucial difference. There are certain tasks that can only be performed by humans, and this interaction is essential for children to grow up in a healthy way.

For him, this is the ideal society and the future that he wants to achieve, where children grow up surrounded by family and friends, and AI and robots  support it.

In this interview, we were able to explore Ryota’s vision of a “happy future using AI”. It is the children who will create the society of the future, and without their healthy growth, we cannot expect the growth of society. Using AI and robots to support children to grow up healthily may lead to the development of society.