Masahiro Mori, a leading figure in robotics and professor emeritus at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, who passed away in January of this year, was the scholar who created the National College of Technology Robot Contest (Kosen Robocon), hosted by NHK since 1988. He took a broad, bird’s-eye view of technology and uttered the famous quote that astutely captures the essence of technology: “A blade can be both a scalpel and a cutter, depending on how it’s used.”

A prime example of this technology that can be both a scalpel and a cutter is information, and false information has been causing social unrest since ancient times. The word “demagogue” refers to someone who spreads false information in Ancient Greek, and its etymology comes from the Greek word “demos,” meaning “the people,” from which the word “demagogos,” meaning someone who incites the masses, was derived.
One example of how this had a significant impact on society was the Peloponnesian War, which pitted Athens and Sparta against each other in Greece in the 5th century BC. Cleon, the commander of the Athenian army, was a demagogue who opposed peace with Sparta and incited the people to continue the war. As a result, Athens lost its regional dominance and Cleon was killed in battle.

In Japan, there have also been many incidents of unrest caused by misinformation. Following the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, false rumors spread that Koreans had started riots, resulting in a significant number of deaths and injuries. In 1973, there was also a commotion caused by rumors about a toilet paper shortage due to the oil crisis, although no human casualties were reported.

Recent advances in information technology, such as generative AI, are also creating new problems. Bears have begun appearing in cities, particularly in the Tohoku region. Videos of bears destroying solar panels on the outskirts of towns and elderly people feeding wild bears have been posted to video-sharing apps. However, the majority of these images are virtual, created by generative AI.
The Oxford English Dictionary, which adopts and includes new words when they begin to take root in society, adopted the term “post-truth” in 2016. The term “post-truth” was coined to describe the proliferation of inaccurate, and in some cases intentionally incorrect, information disseminated by individuals related to the UK’s Brexit referendum and the US presidential election campaign.

There are many examples of technology developed as a scalpel that initially turned into a knife. Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press gave many people access to printed Bibles, sparking the Protestant Reformation. The emergence of automobiles, which travel faster than horse-drawn carriages, led to car accidents involving unfamiliar pedestrians, leading to the enactment of red flag laws restricting vehicle speeds.
As such, when new technology creates social problems, society has long since created systems to solve them, but currently, there are no systems in place to control the social problems caused by generative AI. We are currently sailing uncharted waters without a map, but we need to consider systems to deal with the ever-emerging information technologies, particularly generative AI, which has a direct impact on human nature.

※Translating Japanese articles into English with AI