The Power of Information Mathematics to Open the Door to a New World

The University has conducted education and research in the six faculties of the humanities and social sciences. In a nutshell, we have been pursuing the question of what it means to be human from the standpoint of the humanities and social sciences. Nowadays, AI is rapidly evolving and some of its capabilities are approaching those of human beings, but if this happens, it may happen that AI will enter the interest in human beings that has been cultivated in the existing faculties of the University. If this is the case, how should the Faculty of Information and Mathematical Sciences share issues with existing faculties to do this? Furthermore, if AI is going to become more like personality, how should our university, which has been focusing on personality education, face and tackle "AI ethics"?

I think it is very important for humanities professors and students to understand society through research on human beings. Although there are various opinions on AI (Artificial Intelligence), I consider it to be an "artificial" intelligence, although there are slight differences in nuance between English and Japanese. As you said, the more AI is finally trying to realise something close to a personality, the more it is necessary to have a clear understanding of 'human beings'. In this context, it is essential to properly consider how humans and personalities should be formed. In envisioning a new society of humans and AI, I think the key point is to make research and studies on humans more useful in society.

If approved as planned, the Faculty of Information and Mathematical Sciences will start in April 2024. Until now, our university has been seen by prospective students as a liberal arts university, but we hope that more prospective students will be interested in studying information if they can do so. What do you expect from young people aged 18 or so who want to study information?

We expect people of both sexes who want to participate in creating new information to come. Information is perceived in many different ways, and in some universities with a strong science background, there are many male students and few female students. However, information in the future will develop on the basic premise that many people will use smartphones as information devices. If this is the case, we must not just use information as something that is given to us, but use it to improve our society and participate in the creation of newer things. As mentioned in the fourth dialogue, this requires a broad perspective, regardless of gender, which has not yet become apparent in ChatGPT, but in the past, computers have learned from biased data and output clearly wrong or biased statements, which should not be the case. This is something that should not happen. Diversity and inclusion are the keywords for the future, and everyone will support each other as a team to create new information. I would like students who share these ideas and are interested in learning about them to study here. In fact, the senses and perspectives that women have are extremely important when promoting information, and men need to learn these senses and perspectives too. I believe that this will lead to the creation of an information system that will improve society.

It is only a matter of motivation to create something new, but if it is, for example, the smartphone at hand that arouses this motivation, it may no longer be just a matter of gender, but also of moving away from aspirations in science or the humanities.

The so-called sciences are, in essence, a proper understanding of systems and being trained in mathematical thinking. However, I think there are actually a lot of people who have been interested in such things in their studies from primary school to high school. Young people today, in particular, live their lives with information devices always close at hand, with some of them probably picking up their smartphones as soon as they wake up and putting them next to them when they go to bed. Creating information is something that starts from ideas such as "Why don't we have this kind of service?", "I want this kind of thing to be created" or "If it doesn't exist, I'll create it myself", and it doesn't matter whether you have a science or humanities background. I believe that if you can become familiar with information equipment and information systems and acquire mathematical thinking skills at the Faculty of Information Mathematics and Science, you will be able to enrich your life.

The Faculty of Information and Mathematical Sciences has four features of education in addition to the "mathematical comprehension", "use of advanced ICT" and "connection with society" that I have mentioned in my previous talks: "active in international society". Students of the Faculty of Information Mathematics and Science learn mathematics, the "lingua franca" of the natural sciences, so the barriers to being internationally active are not so high. They can understand each other by presenting a single mathematical formula. However, I don't want people to fall into the trap of thinking that because they can use a smartphone to interpret, they can communicate in Japanese alone. I want them to hone their senses and ideas for communicating in some form to others.

As is evident from the fact that ICT stands for Information and Communication Technology, communication is at the heart of the information world and the internet is already a social infrastructure shared by the whole world. Studying information mathematics is the same as learning about the world already on the ground. I hope that you will make use of advanced information and communication technology (advanced ICT), acquire international leadership skills and hone your attitude to actively communicate with the world.