Student takes first prize in Arabic contest: Bridging Japan and the Arab world
Yoshihiro Okada, a 3rd-year undergraduate student in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, took home first prize in the Arabic Recitation Contest sponsored by the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies in December 2022. For the contest, he recited one of his favorite passages from the literary works of Syrian poets for about one minute, and the judges determined him as the winner based on his expressiveness. He was the only participant who memorized the poem, which greatly enhanced his performance.
Yoshihiro decided to learn Arabic after reading a book about Islamic culture in his third year at Waseda University Senior High School. Since he was already interested in Islamic thought, he decided to join the Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies course at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. He said one of the most difficult aspects of learning Arabic is that only the consonants of words are written, so one must determine the vowels based on the context. He also went to Egypt during spring break of this year for a short-term study abroad program, where his conversation skills improved tremendously. His goal is to acquire enough skill to read classical Arabic literature, and he would like to go to graduate school to continue his studies. He hopes to become a bridge between Japan and the Arab world by introducing more about Islamic thought to Japan.
Japanese article:アラビア語コンテストで最優秀賞 思想研究で日本とアラブ世界の架け橋へ
The future of AI and humans: How should we coexist? We asked professors at the Institute for AI and Robotics
With the release of ChatGPT, the public focus has turned to AI and its place within human society. We asked Professor Tetsuya Ogata and Professor Daisuke Kawahara of the Institute for AI and Robotics all our burning questions. According to them, the speed at which ChatGPT was developed exceeded even their expectations! Even though most of the training data for ChatGPT is in English, it also responds fluently and accurately in Japanese, surprising even the experts. However, all this information is held by one company in the United States, so Japanese companies aim to develop their own version for security reasons.
At the Institute for AI and Robotics at Waseda University, researchers are working on the development of AIREC, a smart robot that can autonomously perform housework, nursing care, and treatment, to achieve Moonshot Goal 3 promoted by the Japanese government―”By 2050, robots that can learn, act on their own and coexist with humans through the co-evolution of AI and robots.” Despite their big goals and expertise, the professors admit that they cannot predict exactly how AI such as ChatGPT will evolve, but distinctions between what it can do and what humans can do are already becoming clear. For example, ChatGPT can only reply with information that is already known, but students and professors work together in universities to discover something new. The rise of AI is inevitable, but the ability to judge the accuracy of AI like ChatGPT, flexibility, and creativity will be more important than ever before as we continue to discover and invent as only humans can do.
Japanese article:AIとヒトの未来 どう共生していけばいいの？ AIロボット研究所の教授に聞きました
An ace racer: The winner of consecutive Japan championships
Mao Kobayashi, a 4th-year undergraduate student in the School of Creative Science and Engineering, currently serves as an athlete and secretariat of the automobile club. She is an accomplished racer who has won individual and team championships in major student competitions such as the All Japan Student Driving Championship (“All Japan Figures”), the All Japan Student Gymkhana Championship, and the All Japan Student Dirt Trial Championship (hereinafter referred to as the “All Japan Championship”).
The “Waseda Keio Intercollegiate Gymkhana Regular Match (Waseda Keio Match)” that she participated in the winter of her first year was a major turning point for her. It was then that she became enthralled with competing and winning. She explains that the university years provide us a unique opportunity so that those without much money can also have access to racing cars and its equipment by cooperating with the colleague from a variety of backgrounds. It’s one of the many reasons she is proud to be a member of the automobile club. Her next goal is to win back-to-back All Kanto Student Dirt Trial Tournaments in June. Then, she will head to Hiroshima prefecture for the All Japan Championship, where her racing career will come full circle as she participates in the last dirt competition at the venue of her official debut.
Japanese article:全日本大会連覇！ 選手と主務の両輪で自動車部をけん引するエースレーサー
