Reaching out to new technologies, toward an age of self-motivated workers: TOH ENJOE

April 6, 2015

This is the third of three conversations between Akutagawa Prize-winning author Toh EnJoe and Ricoh researcher Hiromi Yoshikawa about the future of working. In this last installment, they explore the basic knowledge required of the future office worker and what will be indispensible for future working styles.

How will people make the most of advanced technology and data?

• EnJoe：

  In the roughly 25 years since the 1990s, people don't seem to have changed that much inside, but the changes in technology have been astounding.

• Yoshikawa：

  The Internet has advanced, and all kinds of information are now at our fingertips. But that information is varied and there is too much of it, and it's hard to tell what's worth our attention. Looking toward the future, I think we might see ways to present people with more individually tailored information that they actually want to know. Maybe something like an evolved version of the "suggest" feature on some current search sites.

• EnJoe：

  That feature is really useful, but it also kind of makes me nervous [laughs]. I'm now secretly fighting with the recommendation features on online shopping sites. "I already have the things you're recommending for me! But I won't tell you what they are." I do my best to keep their data from matching.

• Yoshikawa：

  Yeah, it's scary for a website to know what you want more than you do yourself. And it might be that your own thoughts gradually shift toward whatever the predicted keywords are that pop up in your search. In that case, yeah, we might need to fight against the machines [laughs].

• EnJoe：

  If we don't, others will be deciding things for us, right down to what we think. That makes me uneasy.

• Yoshikawa：

  What's important is how to make the most of technology and information. So what kind of skills and abilities do you think will be needed for people to benefit from future technology?

• EnJoe：

  It's the "doing" of new technology. At any rate, people should at least get their hands on it. Say, for instance, if you find some new software, go ahead and install it right away and get your hands on it. I think that's big. I do this myself, but after installing things, I don't actually use them much [laughs].

• Yoshikawa：

  Now even children are power users of message apps, and they can even program. I've seen how kids can build simple programs in a way that's like moving blocks around.

• EnJoe：

  That kind of programming looks like it's for kids, but that might be the mainstream in the future. So from that perspective, too, I think the future calls for people who can reach out to new technology and get their hands on it.

Those who can change and grow may be indispensable in the future

• Yoshikawa：

  The workplace in 2036 might not necessarily be a company anymore. Satellite offices could be located in different places, and going to one could allow people to get work done just as if they were going to the company itself.

• EnJoe：

  I now live in Osaka, but I can still work away from Tokyo entirely, thanks to technology. And since I'm the type who works outside of the house, I wouldn't be able to do my job without an environment where I could use Wi-Fi. I'm really technology-dependent [laughs].

• Yoshikawa：

  From a woman's perspective, it seems at present that marriage and children wouldn't be easy to balance with a job as a researcher. I hope that that kind of anxiety about working could be lessened in the future as technology progresses.

• EnJoe：

  We should leave alone those things that humans can do on their own and use technology to enhance or complement those things that they can't.

• Yoshikawa：

  Rather than having technology that does the work, the idea is that technology is the base on which one stands.

• EnJoe：

  Talking about future prognostication leads my thoughts a bit to the dark side [laughs]. If that base gets too tall, it might give rise to other anxieties…

• Yoshikawa：

  There are definitely some scary aspects to relying on technology too much.

• EnJoe：

  Yeah, so as technology progresses, I think that people, too, have to change. Those who have changed have an advantage in an economic society, and I suspect they could become indispensible for business and society. And as people grow, they must continue to value intimacy with others, even with technology, or business won't last long.

• Yoshikawa：

  No matter how much technology advances, yes, the important thing is the people using it.

• EnJoe：

  If both work and life don't conform closely to what people need, I think things could become very difficult. That's something of a challenge, but at the same time, it's important to remember that, even in the midst of technological progress, well, people are people.

PROFILE

• 

  Toh EnJoeAuthor

  Born in Hokkaido in 1972. Debuted in 2006 with the sci-fi novel Self-Reference ENGINE. Won the Akutagawa Prize in 2012 with his story "Dōkeshi no chō" (“Harlequin's Butterfly”). That same year, won the Nihon SF Taisho Special Award for Shisha no Teikoku (Empire of Corpses) written jointly with late Project Itoh. In 2014, his debut novel won the Philip K. Dick Award Special Citation.

• 

  Hiromi YoshikawaImaging Module Development Group, Product Development Department, Photonics Research Center, Ricoh Technology Center, Ricoh Co., Ltd.

  Born in Nagano Prefecture in 1988. Joined Ricoh in 2013 after completing a graduate degree at the University of Electro-Communications. Leveraging expertise in the research field of virtual reality and cognitive science, she participated in the development of the Theta 360-degree spherical image camera. Now engaged in R&D on applications of the Theta camera and imaging in general, while working mainly on image quality control and processing.