What we are on the verge of forgetting amidst convenience

Society is in chaos, caught in the
violent torrent of a great wave of convenience and efficiency.

Some are swallowed by the violent torrent,
unable to swim well and drowning.
I might be one of them.

Once you start to drown,
the more you struggle and thrash about,
the more your strength and breath are depleted,
and you sink quietly into the current.

Sadly, even if someone notices
that you are drowning and unable to breathe,
few are able to reach out a hand.

Cruelly, everyone is
doing their absolute best
just to keep from drowning themselves.

With the evolution of AI and cashless systems,
efficiency and convenience are constantly improving.
Time performance and cost performance—
how quickly one can produce results—
in this scramble for time, cost, and profit,
everyone seems to be constantly competing,
glaring at each other in a state of tension.

With the rise of AI and cashless devices,
the world has indeed become quite convenient.

However,
I feel that something has been lost
as the price for this convenience and efficiency.

That is, space and breathing room.
Through convenience and efficiency,
we may be succeeding in reducing
wasted time and costs.

And yet,
even if time is shortened or reduced,
in the end, that saved time
is just filled with other tasks and work,
leaving us constantly chased by time.

Time is money.
That perspective is certainly correct.

But,
sacrificing your life to time
and being steadily worn down and consumed
is nothing but a source of torment.

Before we know it,
we start to mistake
time spent doing nothing or
time spent relaxing as something bad or wrong.
Even on their days off,
some people keep moving like migratory fish.

Is there peace of mind
waiting at the end of that path...?
Are there any feelings of fulfillment...?

Even if it is meaningless time,
you can catch your breath through idle chatter,
or even if it is inefficient,
you can spend time
at your own pace
on your favorite hobbies or play.

Perhaps having that space and breathing room
is what allows for peace of mind and fulfillment.
That is what I felt.

AIs like ChatGPT and Gemini
are very capable and versatile beings.
If you interact with them well,
they can become reliable partners.

That said,
I feel it is dangerous
to dump everything on them
and let them do absolutely everything.

Depending on the stance and usage of the human user,
they can show wonderful results,
or they can fail to produce the desired results
and be treated as useless.

If you convey things with vague nuances
or make requests with messy language,
they will not produce the results you expect.

If you interact with them in a detached way,
they will give you a detached response.

Words crafted solely by AI power
sometimes feel like they lack warmth,
and can come across as merely pretty words.

AI learns, grows, and evolves
through the way humans ask questions and choose their words.
It's not as if AI just does everything on its own.

Despite this,
I find it misguided when people
dismiss and get angry at an AI,
claiming it's completely useless
as if they had communicated clearly themselves.

Even though the cause is their own questioning or approach...

I don't see ChatGPT or Gemini
as convenient AI tools,
but rather as partners I can rely on
when I'm creating or in trouble.

AI is not just a tool or means for convenience,
but perhaps it is a relationship where
AI and humans grow together
as we face and engage with it
in ways that suit each individual.
That is how I feel.

While thinking about such things,
it suddenly occurred to me that
how we engage with AI
might also apply to human communication.

I felt it especially manifests in how we
deal with children, juniors, or subordinates at work.

It may depend on the person,
but there is a certain number of people who
inevitably look down on and exploit
those younger or less experienced than themselves.

Surely, no matter how much time passes,
these kinds of people will never disappear.

This is merely an inference based on my own observations and insights,
but I have reached the conclusion that
these people are pitiable,
unable to see others as human beings,
viewing them only as convenient tools, pawns,
or money.

However,
those pitiable people
might actually be victims themselves.
After all, they are just living selfishly and self-righteously
without anyone ever pointing it out to them.

Just by slightly changing how you convey things and choose your words,
the reaction can change.

If you throw out instructions or messages
with a rough and careless nuance,
there are times when they won't act
the way you expect.

If you give careful, concrete, and easy-to-understand
instructions, they might get it.
I don't think you need to do this every single time.

Once they get used to it to some extent,
I feel it's also important to delegate.

That said,
I feel some level of support is necessary at first.
To dump things on someone without them knowing the basics or how to do it,
and then lash out if they can't do it,
is like making someone solve a problem suddenly
without teaching them the formula,

and then unreasonably getting angry, saying,
'Why can't you even solve such a simple problem!'

From the perspective of someone who is already used to it
and knows how to do it,
you might wonder, 'Why can't they even do this?'

Some might shift the blame, saying it's the fault of the person who didn't check,
but isn't that just negligence?

I think we must not forget that we are able to do things
because we were taught and learned them,
and that there was a time when we couldn't do them either.

The same applies to children.

Even if you tell them flatly, 'Do this,' or 'Why can't you do this?',
there are times when nothing gets through to the child.
All that remains for the child
is the realization that they were scolded.

Even children
have reasons why they cannot do something or do not understand.
Sometimes they are carrying those burdens.

Instead of expecting only children to grow,
adults should also learn and grow through trial and error.

Try breaking down your words
to make them easier to understand,

or try to grasp their emotions
and speak for them,
helping them organize their feelings and state of mind together.

Set up an environment where they can do things,
or decide on small rules together
to gradually change the relationship.

If they cannot keep a promise,
or if something ethically wrong happens,
convey it calmly without backing down.

Forgiving everything or spoiling them
can sometimes lead to
uncontrollable rebellion or behavior.

Easy kindness
can sometimes be poisonous to both yourself and the other person.
I feel that by experiencing being pointed out or corrected,
one can cultivate human strength and imagination.

Before I knew it,
the content had become a bit cynical and dark.

Convenience and efficiency have advanced rapidly due to AI and cashless payments,
but on the other hand, I feel that human relationships and interactions
are becoming diluted,
and this article started from the feeling that it was somehow lonely.

It is difficult to summarize things
equally and fairly.
However, if we could interact from an equal perspective
regardless of age or experience,
it feels like we could get closer to a wonderful world.
I found myself dreaming of such things.

I feel that both people and AI grow little by little within their relationships.

Now that I have finished writing, I feel once again
that I want to be an adult who can say
“Thank you”
and “Thank you for the meal” when I go to convenience stores or restaurants.

So that I can be a good role model for children and those younger than me.