Humanity and Technology: Ushering in the Future with “Co-Creation”

Sakura　Before starting, I would like to first provide some points of discussion while reflecting the history of the connections between technology and humanity.

Human beings have made use of tools to adapt to changing environments since the days of the Neanderthals. While animals adapt to the environment through genetic mutations, human beings have evolved through technology. In fact, Homo sapiens has undergone relatively little genetic change. Humanity could be described as a system integrated with technology and artifacts. On the other hand, technology can also have a negative impact on society. Ruth Schwartz Cowan, an American historian of technology, has made the astute observation that the mechanization of household labor has in fact made life busier for women in the home. The appearance of the washing machine, which streamlined the task of washing has ironically increased the amount and frequency of laundry, thereby drastically increasing the total amount of work. The present day might see even larger, unexpected consequences through sophisticated human augmentation technologies. How can we tame technologies and put them to beneficial use? The domestication of technology may become a major theme in the future.

In light of these ideas, I would like to raise three questions. First, how do today’s technology differ from those of the past? Second, how will technology affect society over the long term? And third, are artifacts ultimately our allies or our enemies?
　

Fujimoto　Let’s start with the first issue. Where might the difference between old and new technologies be found?

Mochimaru　A major feature of contemporary human augmentatiion technologies is the fact that they take an integrated form. Rather than one large innovation resulting in dramatic transformation, as before, large innovations are now the result of a collection of smaller innovations. In technical terms, I feel that the key point has to do with technologies that result in personalization of one’s surrounding environment. Whereas eyeglasses only alter the vision of the wearer, AR goggles change the environment itself. For example, if you put on a pair of AR goggles, you could listen to this lecture while changing the colors of the walls of the venue to blue, or red, or whatever you please. As a result, I feel that it has become somewhat ambiguous as to whether we are controlling the environment or are being controlled by the environment.
　

Sakura　The integration of people and technology is also progressing. Many technologies that are already actually incorporated into the body, such as cochlear implants. We are no longer able to develop technology without the human factor. As a result, the boundaries between human-centric research and technological research are disappearing.
　

Mochimaru　The same is true for the boundary between physical and the cybernetic. As technologies of human augmentation evolve, copies of ourselves will be freely able to act in the cyber world. I think there are both positive and negative aspects to this.
　

Komiyama　In his book Homo Deus, the historian Yuval Noah Harari predicts a darkened society that will be polarized between a privileged ruling class that uses technology and a slave-like class used by them. On the other hand, in his lecture Dr. Mochimaru’s shared about a dream of the future in which everyone can achieve self-realization. We can’t know vision will become the reality, and it is a question ultimately to be decided by the will of humanity.
　

Sakura　I am skeptical of the premise that the ruling class will be able to fully master technology in the first place. Algorithms are in their nature biased. Even the ruling class will be at the mercy of the unknown aspects of the technology, and the subordinate class should be able to rebel using other technologies.
　

Komiyama　In any case, it’s interesting precisely because society is so diverse. We must see that technology evolves in a manner that enables the protection of that diversity.
　

Sakura　Yes. At the moment AI is based in statistics, so the more it is used, the less diverse products will become. At present, I think human beings have the edge over AI in terms of producing new expressions in a mutational manner.
　

Mochimaru　I think that one solution to ensuring diversity is the incorporation of user ideas into technological development. Co-creation among users is something I feel will serve as a breeding ground for fostering diversity that supersedes the intentions of creators.
　

Fujimoto　In light of these various opinions, what is the verdict? Are artifacts our enemies or our allies?
　

Mochimaru　Uber, which proposed the new value of the “sharing economy,” also engendered a social problem in the form of a large number of precarious workers who do not enjoy legal protections as employees. Technology developers sometimes inflict unintended consequences on society. Not all of them can be predicted. Of course, we also strive to incorporate diverse perspectives at the development stage. However, the reality is that until a developer releases a technology into society, no one can know how things will play out.
　

Komiyama　In order to minimize the negative effects of technology, it is important for amateurs to be bold in discussing their areas of expertise. While the nuts and bolts of technologies can only be left to experts, we can still discuss assumptions surrounding these technologies. When the Great Los Angeles Earthquake struck, many experts stated that similar collapse of buildings would never occur in Japan. Nevertheless, an expressway was destroyed in the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of the following year. Here, too, the assumption had been wrong. It is in fact dangerous for talented experts to charge onward with unquestioned assumptions. Non-specialists must be daring enough to step up, even without previous experience in the field.
　

Sakura　And you need spaces for having those discussions.
　

Komiyama　That’s right. That’s precisely the role of universities and think tanks.