When I teach children about AI, there is something I always tell them. One of the things you will need from now on is to become a “good person.”
Why talk about character in a place where children learn computers and AI? You might wonder. But for me, it is the thing I feel most strongly, after working in the IT industry for nearly 30 years.
If you had the skill, there was a place for you
I do not know whether this is true only of our industry. But I have met many people who were outstanding in one particular area and yet had real problems as human beings.
However difficult such a person was, they could stay in the workplace as long as their skill was exceptional. Only they could write that program; only they could fix that system. The people around them made allowances, and the work went on.
Even an unpleasant person was forgiven if they were good enough. That was the reality of the workplace until now.
AI is starting to fill in the sharp edges
With AI, that premise has changed. A skill that excels in only one narrow area can increasingly be taken over by AI. People who were chosen for their sharp skill alone are losing the reason they were chosen.
Before long, no one will be able to beat AI on intelligence. In speed, in accuracy, in the amount of knowledge, there will be no contest.
When that time comes, what will people use to choose one another? It will be “Do I want to work with this person, as a person?”
What remains is sincerity
What that means is sincerity as a human being. Keep your promises. Say so when you do not know. Do not hide your mistakes. Listen to the other person. These are plain things.
By “good person” I do not mean a cheerful personality. I do not mean someone sociable who can talk to anyone right away. Someone who is quiet, who is not good at talking, who is shy — if they keep their promises, do not deceive, and care for others, they are a sincere person. Whether your personality is bright or dark has nothing to do with it.
You can ask AI and get text, pictures and programs. But the trust that makes someone say “I want to leave this to that person” cannot be ordered. It is built little by little, through what we say and do every day.
When an insincere person polishes their words and manner only on the surface, people sense the mismatch by intuition. What we need to build is not the surface. It can only be made our own slowly, over a long time.
What I tell the children
So I talk about becoming a good person with the same energy I use to teach how to use AI. Skills can be taught, and AI will help. Sincerity is not about changing your personality; it is about the choices you make in each action. That is why any child can start building it today.
I believe that a society in which sincere people survive is the way it ought to be.
The column series for children, Kodomo Mirai Note, is written in the same spirit. It covers not only how to use AI and computers, but also friends, money, and taking care of yourself. At the root of every technology story is always the question of what kind of person you want to be.
Digital Kodomo BASE runs a free learning space, After-School Lab, every Wednesday. We want to give children not only time with computers and AI, but time spent with other people.
What does it mean to be a good person? I hope to keep thinking about it together with the children.