What I want to automate and what I want to do myself.
What I want to write about in this site is nothing more or less than the title. There is a need to balance efforts to improve productivity through automation to solve the labor shortage with efforts to support individuals so that they can continue to do what they want to do. Through this site, I hope to introduce the latest topics, including our own efforts on the above two topics, and our opinions on them.
The first value of robots: Automation
Originally, robots were utilized to automate tasks in factories, and have evolved into a large, approximately 1 trillion yen industry. As a result, the automobile industry and other economies have developed, and GDP has continued to grow. It has been more than 10 years since I myself started researching robots when I was a university student, and I have been involved in many robotics projects, and many robots are now appearing in the world. Most of the robots that have become widespread in the world have been designed to replace or improve the efficiency of human tasks through automation.
Did it make you happy?
Anyway, we have succeeded in economic development through automation. On the other hand, when everything is automated, are we happy? For many people, the answer is no. For many people, I think the answer is no.
As Dr. Yoshiki Ishikawa, a famous researcher of well-being, often explains, there is no correlation between “GDP per capita” and “life satisfaction. Rather, after World War II, even though GDP per capita continued to grow, the level of life satisfaction remained constant.
This result is quite shocking. In terms of data, robots have contributed a lot to making things in factories, but they have contributed very little to making people happy at home and at work.
Next value to offer: Augmentation
Can we contribute more to creating happiness? If you think about it, there must be plenty. To continue to do what you like and enjoy, to make it more fun. Or, there must be things that you want to continue doing by yourself even in your old age. I will call this idea of continuing to do what you want to do as “augmentation”. In some cases, it may be a physical augmentation of one’s abilities, such as strength or speed, and in other cases, it may be a sensory augmentation, such as more fun or more focused. In either case, the technology will be there to help you do what you want to do and be what you want to be. In other words, the use of technology for well-being.
The Future of Society
I do not mean to say that automation or augmentation is more important. It is true that there will be an even greater shortage of labor in the future, and it is also true that it will become increasingly important for each individual to lead a more brilliant life. Isn’t it important to seek a better balance between automation and augmentation?
In this site, I would like to contribute to the realization of a better society and brighter individuals by introducing the latest examples of automation and augmentation.
