An Interview with AI Researcher Masahiko Osawa: The Future of Travel in Five Years

The "strength" and "kindness" I’ve cultivated in pursuing my dreams

Explorer Squad: First, could you please introduce yourself, Mr. Osawa?

Mr. Osawa: My self-introduction can be summed up in a single sentence: “My dream is to create Doraemon.” While people now accept my desire to “create Doraemon” without batting an eye, in the past, it was often brushed off with a dismissive “Yeah, yeah…”However, as I’ve gained more allies, engaged in research, and developed the ability to convey my vision to others, I feel I’ve finally become able to properly pursue my dream. Although it’s been my dream since I was a child, it’s only been about 10 years since I’ve been able to say with pride, “My dream is to create Doraemon.”

Explorer Squad: Has anything changed significantly in the 10 years since you’ve been able to say, “My dream is to create Doraemon,” with confidence?

Mr. Osawa: I think my vision of “how to create Doraemon” has changed. At first, my mindset was something like, “I’ll become smarter than anyone else, master more technical skills than anyone else, knock everyone out of the way, and finish creating Doraemon!” Now, it’s shifted to, “I won’t defeat anyone; I’ll team up with everyone to create Doraemon!” It’s the complete opposite (laughs).
As I mentioned earlier, back in the beginning, even when I’d say, “I want to create Doraemon,” people would just respond with, “Yeah, yeah…” When I got that kind of reaction, I felt like I had no choice but to defeat them. That’s why I think my mindset was focused on how to create a Doraemon that would silence my opponents. However, now, through activities within my own community, I’ve come to adopt a mindset focused on how to get people to love the Doraemon we create and how to work together with my peers.

Explorer Squad: Does the fact that your vision for creating Doraemon has changed mean that the means you use to protect your dream have also changed?

Mr. Osawa: Looking back on the past 10 years, I think the biggest change is that we’ve started to acquire both the “strength” and the “kindness” needed to create Doraemon. I believe that thinking “I have no choice but to defeat the other side” is simply a reflection of weakness. Before that, we hadn’t conducted proper research, so we had no way to claim that something we hadn’t yet achieved was “possible,” nor could we demonstrate the actual ability or track record to back it up. But by acquiring “research,” and by presenting logic and technology that could properly convince others, we gained the “strength” and “kindness” to protect our own dreams—I think that’s a major change.

Not “Leadership,” but “Followership”

Explorer Squad: Mr. Osawa, did your interest in “information science”—your field of expertise—stem from working backward from the question of what was needed to create Doraemon?

Mr. Osawa: That’s pretty much how it went. I started building robots around elementary school age. I wasn’t bad at building them, but I was terrible at controlling them. I realized they absolutely had to move automatically, so I started doing electronics projects. Just as I was beginning to feel that electronics alone had its limits, I started learning programming and other related fields. Since programming is essentially information science, it became my core focus. However
, I realized that just writing programs wasn’t enough—I also needed knowledge of artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and neuroscience. But I also realized that learning and creating everything on my own wasn’t sustainable. So, to work with others, I delved deeper into organizational theory. I think I’ve steadily broadened my horizons with the determination to do whatever it takes to create Doraemon.

Explorer Squad: You mentioned that working alone isn’t enough. You’re also active as the Director of the Research Center for Next-Generation Society (RINGS). What does the research center mean to you?

Mr. Osawa: The research center’s slogan is, “100 people making 100 dreams come true.” It might sound like just a nice-sounding phrase, but I actually mean it quite seriously. I want to create a state where the relationship of 100 people cooperating to fulfill one person’s dream applies to the dreams of all 100 people. I envision a world where people who have mastered their own paths naturally form all kinds of collaborative relationships, where everyone’s efforts reflect back on me, and my efforts reflect back on everyone. People often say to me, “So your research center is the ‘Center for Creating Doraemon,’ right?” Well, that’s both a yes and a no—because “creating Doraemon” is just one of the 100 dreams we’re working toward. However, I don’t want this to be a center dedicated solely to creating Doraemon; I want it to be a place that generates the power to ensure “every single person’s dream is truly fulfilled.”

Explorer Squad: As the Center Director, is there anything you keep in mind?

Mr. Osawa: People often talk to me about “leadership,” but I believe my strength lies in “followership.” I’ve always had colleagues by my side who would listen and say, “That’s a great idea,” and whenever I worked with those kinds of people, things went smoothly. Anyone can be the one to come up with an idea—it just takes courage—but the moment someone says “That’s a great idea” to that person, doesn’t that idea turn into innovation? Because of that experience, I’m committed to being a follower rather than a leader in my role at the research center. I want people to think
, “If I tell Osawa, he’ll definitely say ‘That’s great!’” or “I’ll have no choice but to do it.” I want to be that kind of presence. I’m the one who gives them a push—saying, “That’s awesome! Let’s do it!”—and builds their confidence. Maybe I’m like a “Doraemon” figure. Whenever Nobita has a problem, he always runs to Doraemon for comfort. Doraemon pulls out a secret gadget to solve the problem... even if the ending tends to be a bit of a letdown... I still think it’s amazing how the story keeps moving forward. As a research center, I’d love to create a space where we can be that “Doraemon” who helps stories move forward, starting from the “uneasiness” or “excitement” that arises in someone’s heart.

What’s needed in today’s fast-paced world of technological advancement is “free time” and “breathing room.”

Explorer Squad: We’d also like to hear a little about your vision for “five years from now.”

Mr. Osawa: From our field of research, I’d say, “Predicting the future is unnecessary and meaningless” (laughs). The reason is that technology is advancing so rapidly that even experts are finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with technological forecasts. People sometimes ask me, “Did you predict that ChatGPT would emerge at this exact moment?” I usually respond, “I was anticipating the unpredictable, so it was ‘exactly as expected, yet completely unexpected.’”
From the perspective of our research field, I feel the real question becomes: “When something we never even imagined—like ‘with this technology, we could travel like this’—actually appears, will people accept it?” For example, the idea of traveling via a remotely operated robot doesn’t really surprise anyone, does it? But the real questions are: Will people actually accept that kind of travel? And how many people are actually prepared to accept it?

Explorer Squad: In a world where technology is advancing too quickly, how should we live?

Mr. Osawa: I think “keeping yourself free” is the best approach (laughs). Seriously though, it’s the people who embrace new technologies who will thrive in the coming era, isn’t it? If you’re working too hard, you’ll be completely swamped with the tasks right in front of you and won’t be able to adopt new technologies. So, in this era, I believe what we need to do now is “make time for ourselves.”

Explorer Squad: Is that like creating “breathing room” to make room for adopting new technologies?

Mr. Osawa: Exactly. When I think about “the journey five years from now,” I believe we might be heading toward a world where “it’s important to schedule trips regularly.” By traveling regularly, you can read books along the way or try out services you’ve never used before. Travel is a time when you can do whatever you want, and it’s also a time to update yourself on new things. In a world where technological progress and environmental changes are happening so rapidly, I feel it’s essential to set aside time and schedule blocks to step away from daily life and calm your thoughts. For example
, you could schedule “I must go on a trip every last weekend of the month” a year in advance, and use those weekends to reflect on the past month, gather information on new trends, and think, “Maybe I’ll try this at work tomorrow.”

Explorer Squad: That’s interesting. Perhaps we need something like “travel as a means” to deliberately create time to reflect on our past, or “travel to intentionally create breathing room.”

Mr. Osawa: I think it’s better to be busy traveling. With technological advancements, if a job that used to take 8 hours can now be done in 7, I’d use that extra hour for travel. I think it would be great to have a cycle where you use that travel time to update your knowledge of new technologies and ideas.
 

The “Seeds” Found on This Expedition

Centering his efforts on “creating Doraemon,” Mr. Osawa is fully committed not only to his own technical skills but also to communication and organizational theory to engage those around him. His dedication has provided us with many of the “seeds” essential to this exploration. Precisely because new technologies are emerging one after another, the question is whether we can create the “breathing room” necessary to incorporate them…It’s easy to get completely overwhelmed by the busyness right in front of us, but perhaps what our journey ahead requires—and the “value” we should provide—is creating a little “leisure” to reflect on our daily lives or to spend time engaging with new technologies. I also hope that this expedition team can be of some help in creating that “leisure” or “breathing room.”