Mr. Yoichi Nishiwaki

As a science education researcher, I am working on developing teaching materials for data science education.

Recent advancements in AI (artificial intelligence) technology have been remarkable, and opportunities to use AI in various situations, such as information gathering, data analysis, and report creation, are increasing. On the other hand, problems such as "hallucination," where AI generates information that is not factual, and the spread of fake information have also been pointed out. Therefore, it is important not only to use AI services as convenient tools, but also to understand the mechanisms and limitations of AI technology and to be able to use it appropriately.

Therefore, I am developing educational materials that allow anyone to learn data science without difficulty. To accommodate the diversification of learning environments, I aim to create materials that can be used with ICT devices such as smartphones and tablets, enabling learning regardless of location or time.

Spending time with my family is my greatest joy.

For high school students choosing humanities courses, when you hear 'data science,' you might think, 'I don't really understand it, but I need to understand mathematics.' However, in my lab, learning data science doesn't require any prior knowledge of mathematics.

What is data science? To put it simply, I see it as "being able to digitize and visualize anything or anything you love." "Digitizing and visualizing" might sound difficult, so let me give you an example. If you love literature, have you ever thought, "My interpretation is completely different from my own, and that's interesting too?" However, conveying the image you've received to others can be difficult, and sometimes it can feel frustrating if you can't convey it well. Nowadays, with generative AI, anyone can turn their image into pictures and convey them. You can simply name a few words that come to mind after reading a work or phrases from your favorite piece, and you can generate images from them. Once you have an image close to your own image, showing it to someone else who made it in the same way can spark a discussion about the work. This is "visualizing images of images received from your work." If you wonder, "Are images and images related to data?" you are ready to study data science in this lab.

Additionally, it serves as material for learning data science in any field, including language, history, culture, philosophy, and media. A major feature of College of Arts and Sciences is that it allows interdisciplinary learning that transcends the humanities and sciences boundaries. You can also choose to study humanities and social sciences specialties while simultaneously learning how to utilize AI technologies. Why not learn about the things and things you love at our university from a slightly different perspective than usual?