Generative AI Teaches Nothing Without … | Junichi Ushiyama, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies
In November 2024, my oldest son, who was in the 5th grade at the time, suddenly begged me with tears in his eyes while we were taking a bath together.
"Dad, I want to play baseball..."
.....
"Are you Mitchi?!" (See Slam Dunk, Volume 8)
I laughed out loud, but at the same time, it touched my heart. He had spent most of his elementary school life under many restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, he was opening up his raw, honest feelings to me.
I wanted to make his wish come true. As a parent, I made up my mind to change our plans right before he started the 6th grade. At a time when more and more classmates were quitting other activities such as sports to focus on studying for junior high school entrance exams, we made a big change: we gave up the exams and chose baseball.
Since that day, my weekends have been all about shouting and cheering for the kids on the field. Maybe it’s just my habit as a researcher of "exercise and the brain," but I started to notice something. On this field, so many important things for life are being grown.
"How can I hit a home run?"
If you ask Generative AI this question, it will give you answers in just a few seconds:
・ Focus on the "angle" of the ball (the romance of around 30 degrees)
・ Put a "backspin" on the ball
・ Change "lower-body power" into bat speed
The AI easily lists up answers that sound right. But even if you just blindly believe this information, can you become like Ohtani-san?
Of course, the answer is “NO”.
You have to swing the bat thousands or tens of thousands of times. You would still strike out again and again, and feel frustrated every time. When your turn comes in a big chance, your heart may beat like crazy. But when you win against that pressure and hit a great ball, you should high- five your teammates with a big smile. As such, by moving your own body and trying over and over again, the meaning of all that information starts to make sense through real experience. By repeating success and failure, separate dots of information connect into a line. When the manager and coaches provide a psychologically safe environment, this knowledge is naturally strengthened in their brains, and they grow even faster. Today, getting information is so easy. That is exactly why the value of hard, real-world experiences is exploding.
Generative AI teaches you nothing (without trial and error with your own body and emotions).
Watching my son give all his passion to youth baseball led me to this idea. It has truly been a wonderful life as a father, cheering for my boy and his team on the field.
(P.S.)
An academic paper that supports my current idea very well was published in the academic journal “Science” in January 2026. If you are interested, please check it out! https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adz9311