Introduction

“You don’t have to use AI in order to live, do you?” In our interview with Mr. R, a first-year university student living in Tokyo, we were able to note his honest opinions regarding AI.

He often hears about AI on TV and has taken AI-related lectures at university. However, according to Mr. R, he has no opportunity to use AI in his daily life. “I use my cell phone a lot, and I use digital devices a lot, but I don’t think I’ve used “AI”, and I don’t like Siri very much,” he said. He added, “I don’t know what the line is between AI and digital devices.” It seems that AI is not something with which he is familiar.

Towards the end of the interview, Mr. R began to speak more and more about the potential of AI. Let us take a look at the changes in his mindset, step by step.

Can we live without AI?

I asked Mr. R, who had insisted that he could live without AI, why exactly did he think that way. He gave me examples from his own life without AI and said that he could live like this without any inconvenience.

He said, “Even if a really useful piece of AI technology came out, I wouldn’t be able to use it because I’m an analog person and I don’t have any specialized knowledge of AI”.

When I asked him what he thought a really useful AI function would be, he said he imagined Friday, the AI in the Iron Man movie, which does everything it is requested to do and has the ability to do it effectively. Since he mentioned the movie, I asked him about the image of robots and AI in the movie. He said that robots are somewhat flawed, have cute elements, and are often allies, but AI is smart, has almost no flaws, and is often seen as an enemy. 

AI in use today 

After an hour, I talked with Mr. R about specific examples of how AI is currently being used, such as smartphones, facial recognition, and companies using AI to conduct interviews. When I talked to him about other examples of AI, such as data analysis in sports, inventory management in supermarkets, and customer management in restaurants, he told me that he had never heard of these systems before.

He said, “I didn’t know that AI was actually being used in the supermarket where I work part-time, and I was glad to have the opportunity to learn that AI is really becoming an indispensable part of various industries around us.

Ideal AI and Future Possibilities

After learning more about how AI is actually used in the field, we talked about its potential AI in the future and his ideal image of AI. Mr. R pointed out that AI could become more visible to people than it is now.

If we had an AI nanny in the family, more people would have a good image of AI and feel more familiar with it”, “So, if I had to create my ideal AI, I would want one that could cook, clean, and take care of the kids at home.” he said. At first, Mr. R was skeptical about the need for AI, but as he heard about practical examples, he began to consider its potential.

Mr. R’s ideal AI