[Giants Manager Resignation] Don't let the news end with 'superficial finger-pointing.' What is the true role parents must play in the AI era?
I am writing this article with a bit of hesitation. I don't usually post my thoughts on current events. Even so, this time, I just couldn't stay silent.
Have you seen the news that's been trending lately?
More than the domestic trouble of a celebrity itself, the single point that 'a child consulted ChatGPT' has been bothering me. I wrote this note to organize those uneasy feelings.
Recently, news of a celebrity's domestic trouble and the subsequent resignation caused a stir in society. Since it was reported that the trigger for the report was 'a child consulting ChatGPT,' public criticism has strayed from the essence, and it seems to be ending with superficial problem-seeking such as the dangers of generative AI or the low internet literacy of children.
However, regarding this series of commotions, I feel two points of discomfort and an important question for the coming era.
First, can we have a culture where 'society forgives'?
Regarding this matter, Mr. Toru Hashimoto makes an important point. The gist is as follows.
'Child consultation centers and the police should act somewhat excessively in the initial response to protect children. However, if there is a proper explanation from the parties involved afterward, society should forgive them. If excessive social sanctions continue, child consultation centers and the police will actually find it harder to act.'
I completely agree with this opinion.
For the mechanism to protect children to function, an 'excessive initial response' and 'subsequent social tolerance' must be established as a set. It cannot work with just one side. While being strict in the initial response, if there is sincerity in the subsequent explanation, society accepts it... Do we have such a culture?
A 'society that cannot forgive' will, as a result, cause those who protect children to shrink. I think this is another essence that this commotion has confronted us with.
And, do not blame the 'child who consulted AI'.
At the same time, one more point.
Regarding the fact that 'a child consulted ChatGPT,' there are voices that view 'the dangers of AI' and 'low internet literacy' as problems. However, to put a lid on it by saying 'don't trust AI too much' or 'it's too early for children to have it' in this case is too extreme of an all-or-nothing way of thinking.
Think about it. The child confided in 'someone' about something they couldn't tell anyone else. Just because that partner was an AI, the essence is the act of 'seeking help.' What is the point of blaming that?
Instead of changing the system because it was wrong, isn't it necessary for us, as a society, to update how we receive information?
An era where the information gap has vanished. The 'new awareness' parents should possess
In the past, it was standard for adults and parents to monopolize knowledge and 'teach and provide' it to children in a top-down structure. However, in the modern age, we live in a time where the 'brain of a top-tier University of Tokyo graduate (AI)' is always at the child's fingertips at any given moment.
The era where adults could hold power through the sheer volume of knowledge or correct answers is already over.
That is precisely why I believe we parents should honestly put down the burden of 'having to hold all the correct answers.' Furthermore, I believe we are required to realize a shift in our own roles from being 'those who teach' to 'those who walk alongside'.
It's not about teaching tools. It's about nurturing the heart.
Teaching children how to study, sending them to lessons, or letting them experience a sense of accomplishment in sports—these are all wonderful experiences. However, shouldn't parents be facing something much more fundamental that lies beneath all that?
How to accept a certain event with one's heart. I believe that creating the roots of that heart is the true role of a parent.
For example, when a child asks something of an AI, instead of shutting them down by saying, 'Why are you asking an AI?', can you respond with, 'Oh, that's what the AI said. What did you think about that?' Thinking together with the child about the questions that lie beyond the answer provided by the AI—'How do I feel about this?' or 'What would I do?'—that time is something only a parent can provide.
If you point a smartphone lens at a flower blooming on the side of the road, the AI will instantly tell you its name (data). However, the parent's role does not end there. The essence lies in the 'association game' that follows.
'What color is this?'
'It smells nice, doesn't it?'
'Oh, if you look closely, there's a little bug too!'
'The flower blooming over there looks kind of similar, too.'
Sharing what you feel on the spot and letting your emotions resonate with each other.
Instead of just providing convenient tools, it's about sharing right by their side how to find interest in and cherish the world that exists beyond the information obtained through those tools—that 'way of moving the heart.'
Love, patience, empathy, observation, and critical thinking—I believe that mobilizing these human qualities to walk alongside our children is the essential quality required of parents from here on out.
No matter how much tools evolve and the world becomes more convenient, ultimately, it is the 'human heart' that handles, accepts, and brings them to life within society.
We can leave the 'correct answers' to AI. That is precisely why we must nurture our children's 'hearts.'
And society must have a culture that 'forgives' those who face things with sincerity.
Although I am still an immature father, I want to keep this axis steady, observe the world from the same perspective as my children every day, and grow together with them.
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