A: What’s new?
B: Recently, I tried to transcribe our conversation using a computer, and it worked well. When we have a discussion, the notes are comparatively low. By seeing the transcription, I learn much from the discussion.
A: That’s pretty cool. Using a lot of technology to aid your learning.
B: I put the text into ChatGPT and made it digest in both English and Japanese.
A: Did you discuss with the chatbot?
B: I didn’t try to discuss with the chatbot, but after the chatbot made the summary, I can ask for more detail on the topic. It’s very useful for reviewing the discussion because listening to the audio recording takes a lot of time.
A: I wonder how schools will handle ChatGPT. Because a lot of people might cheat on essays and research. How do you think schools will deal with ChatGPT for cheating on tests?
B: I recently saw an example from a professor who made a homework assignment. He said to use ChatGPT or a large language model, do not write the report by yourself. The question was very difficult, and even GPT-4 couldn’t answer. So students have to teach the important information to the chatbot and then let it write the report.
A: So this professor came up with a question that’s too hard for ChatGPT?
B: Yes, and he let student to try using it. Even Google couldn’t provide an answer.
A: How do you find the information needed to write the report and then teach it to ChatGPT?
B: Students have to read the lecture materials carefully. Then pick the imformation from it. It’s difficult tasks.
A: Do you have any special requests today? Do you want to continue discussing ChatGPT?
B: Yes, let’s continue discussing it. I think ChatGPT will definitely change the world, especially in teaching. My friend made an interesting project where he created a tutor teaching assistant.
A: When ChatGPT came out, many programmers took it, modified it, and made different applications. So your friend made a tutor that teaches programming languages and put lecture information into the ChatGPT beforehand?
B: Yes, students can ask the tutor bot questions more easily than asking a human teacher. Japanese people often hesitate to ask questions. A chatbot can help them overcome this shyness.
A: I think many people are afraid to ask a stupid question. Instructors often say there are no stupid questions, but people have a subconscious need to not look dumb in front of everyone. People have a subconscious desire to look smart in front of others.
B: I think the reason why people tend to hesitate in asking questions is the lack of labor power in elementary schools. Teachers are too busy, so students subconsciously avoid asking questions teachers don’t want to.
A: We can use ChatGPT for some cool things. What are some of the dangers, though?
B: Some people say it’s dangerous, but I don’t agree with them. When society changes rapidly, it looks dangerous from some viewpoints, but it’s also an opportunity to make things better.
A: Moving on to another topic, is there any news about TikTok in Japan? I heard it’s a big deal in America, but the company is from China. They say it’s collecting a lot of information about American citizens, and the Chinese government can take that information and do whatever they want with it. There’s a lot of fear about that, and even the US government said no more TikTok for federal employees. Are these real fears?
B: I think the fear in America might be too intense. In Japan, some people think the fear is a way to create a barrier against Chinese companies entering the American market.
A: In US, there’s a widespread belief that it’s a psychological operation from (psyop) China.
B: Psychological operations are important in the new style of warfare. I read about Chinese strategies targeting social networking systems to create opinions favorable for their country. It’s part of a new style of war. - public opinion poll
A: The new style of war often involves great power competition. China wants to dominate the Pacific and use their military to gain economic control of the area. For example, Russia had close economic control over Ukraine, and when the government changed, Russia attacked to reclaim it.
A: Many believe TikTok is a Chinese psyop, aimed at making Americans dumber with short, nonsensical videos. A good case for this is that TikTok doesn’t really exist in China, but the company has something similar there with more educational content. People think TikTok is making us dumber with 10-second videos that ruin our attention span. One fear is that TikTok is an effort by the Chinese government to make Americans dumber.
B: If it is operation, too obvious. I think it’s a repeated history. Elderly always say against what younger loves. Movie, TV, comics, games, and then TikTok. In Japan, there’s a similar fear around AI-generated art. Some artists are disliking the technology.
A: The AI-generated art takes elements from existing art, and some people think it steals the work of artists.
B: However, the data taken from a particular piece of art is quite small.
A: You can also prompt the AI to mimic an artist’s style.
B: I have something to show you. I made this. I created AI-generated art in various styles, like Mondrian’s. Then patched them into the tote bag.
A: That’s interesting.
B: I think that technology is neutral. Some people get damaged from it, while others benefit. It’s like the invention of the camera. When the camera was invented, many artists were worried, but it created a new area of art: photography.
A: There’s always fear mongering around new technology.
B: I think there are many people making fear about ChatGPT. There’s a lot of fear mongering and war mongering. Countries want more power, and they use different tactics. The progression of technology is a kind of attack, and many countries do it.
A: Fear mongering means making and spreading fear. There’s a lot of it around ChatGPT, as well as war mongering, which refers to spreading war or making actions that might lead to war.
B: No one actually wants to make physical war, but many countries want more power. The prohibition of technologies like TikTok can be seen as a kind of attack, and America engages in similar tactics.
B: US prohibits some semiconductors to export to China. China, of course, doesn’t like the prohibition. The semiconductor industry is a source of power, making it a strategic resource.
A: The fear over this situation has grown in the past couple of years because of Russia and Ukraine. Ukraine has a lot of economic power in grain exports. Russia invaded to take that power. People predict that China might do the same thing with Taiwan, which has a strong semiconductor industry. China never acknowledged Taiwan as independent country, so this is a difficult situation.
B: TSMC, the largets semiconductor maker in Taiwan, is building another factory in Japan. It is an action to mitigate the problem. Japan’s role is controversial. Some people in Japan think we should avoid physical conflict but still have enough power to defend ourselves. Last year, Japan decided to double the budget for defensive power. Some people are against it.
A: If you want peace, prepare for war. We should avoid conflict, but sometimes we need power to defend ourselves. Japan and Korea have recently made a friendship over military defense, despite historical tensions.
B: There’s a vocal minority in Korea that dislikes Japan, but many people love Japanese culture. Some people can’t voice their opinions because they feel danger.
A: Moderates are often afraid to voice their opinions. The reason Koreans are mad at Japan is because Japan used to rule Korea. The reason for the historical tensions is that Japan used to rule Korea, and they were pretty brutal, even outlawing the Korean language and forcing labor. However, Taiwan was also ruled by Japan, but Taiwan loves Japan.
B: That is an example of group polarization. If some people show strong opinion, the moderate opinions are suppressedm and the opinion reproduce itself.
A: There are a few islands that symbolize the conflict between the two countries, like Dokdo, which is a big symbol of pride in Korea. However, many Japanese people don’t really care about it.
B: Yes, I think the island has no economic value for us. It is just a symbol of conflict. There are also a conflict between Japan and Russia over some small islands. In Hokkaido, there are a lot of flags saying that the four islands are part of Japan. The islands don’t have actual economic value, but politicians in the area use them as an appeal point for national pride. - Northern Territories problem
A: For our next lesson, do you have any special requests?
B: Not so far.
A: Today we had an interesting discussion, covering complicated topics about the history of Korea and Japan. It’s important to learn about this history, as it’s ingrained in the minds of many Koreans due to the past conflicts with Japan. Korea’s biggest national hero, for example, is a genius navy commander who defended the country against a Japanese invasion in the 1500s.
B: I think such topics should be covered in schools, as I don’t know much about them.
A: Learning about historical figures and their tactics can be fascinating. Some vocabulary we covered today includes “subconscious” and “vocal minority.”
B: Thank you very much for the interesting discussion today.
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