The Element of Surprise:
Global Issues and Solutions in the 21st Century
同志社国際中学校２年

The most widely discussed problems may not the most urgent.

北村悠真It may well be that

artificial intelligence and xenophobia are in fact bigger problems than global warming andwar.

A wider range of problems should be acknowledged in order to better prepare

ourselves for the future.

Robots are perhaps the most powerful inventions created, but with great power
comes great responsibility.

“The Matrix” is a trilogy of movies depicting a future inwhich humans have been enslaved by robots.

This is an idea that has not been taken

seriously enough because it seems far-fetched.

Robots are becoming more advanced by

the year. The computer program Alpha Go defeated the champion of a game called “Go”,
disproving the theory that robots cannot defeat humans at Go because of its reliance on

英語中学生－intuition.

As robotic technology improves, the danger increases.

Even malicious computer

programs are threats; there are many different programs that trick humans into revealing
private information.

Keystroke Logging is a program that records every letter typed witha device, such as a phone or a computer.
more if activated.

It reveals private messages, passwords, andIf robots gain the ability to do this autonomously, everybody using adevice is at risk.

However, the main problems with robots are caused by the humans that programthem.

The dangers that we think about, such as rogue and greedy robots, areprogrammed in by the builder of the robot.

We humans, in order to prevent artificial

intelligence from taking over, need to fix ourselves, and thereby fix the robots.

Onepossible solution is kindness: greed is caused by a fear of exhausting supplies and also
because people want to feel happy.

With fMRI technology, scientists have discovered thatbeing kind raises dopamine (the chemical that makes people feel good) levels for a longtime, but getting material goods only raises dopamine levels temporarily.

In the media, news of Islamic radicals that have committed terrorism is widespread.
This has caused more Islamophobia around the world; surveys done by FactTank andThe Guardian indicate a less positive view towards Islamic people after the September 11attacks on the World Trade Center than surveys done years before.

However, I would

like to look at the other side of the conflict.

14 different predominantly Islamic countries have been attacked and invaded,including Iraq, Libya, and Yemen.

In Japan, the government has authorized thesurveillance of Islamic people in Japan, even though very few, if not any, terrorist attacks
in Japan have been committed by Islamic people.

I do not think that this is the way

Islamic people should be treated; they should be treated with dignity.

More people feelthat they are hated by the outside world and join groups like the Islamic State of Iraq
and the Levant (ISIL), causing more xenophobia and therefore more war.

Territorial disputes, refugee influxes, and fear cause xenophobia.
diplomacy may prove to be the best solution.
try and compromise.

This is why

If a dispute cannot be resolved, we should

By sharing what we all have, we create a society where nobody

needs to fight for their needs or try and take from each other.

Japan has tainted by its

actions during World War 2, but can improve its reputation by helping countries like
China with their pollution problem, as Japan has advanced air purifying systems.

It willbe difficult, but it will result in a world beneficial to everybody.

Everybody in the world has at least one person they dislike.

This is a waste ofissues.

英語time; when we are focusing on killing each other; we are being distracted from the larger
It would be easier for robots to take over if humans are fighting each other,

These problems are not to be taken lightly and if ignored could have devastating
effects on the world.

Neither of these problems was listed on the United Nations GlobalIssues list nor was mentioned very often a global issues poll in the European Union.
This is an indication that people underestimate the danger.

We need to widen our focus

on global problems; we should never underestimate the element of surprise.

中学生－would it not?