攻殻機動隊 M.M.A. - Messed Mesh Ambitions_

The East

Envision the fusion of "Ghost in the Shell" protagonist Motoko Kusanagi and the Puppet Master, and the transformation she undergoes with that event. As an inevitable product of society and its advanced fusion of life, data, and technology as depicted in the original manga and first film, Motoko in this form symbolizes one of the most important themes tackled in the subsequent <Ghost in the Shell> series. To shake up the issues with Eastern creativity, this special feature seeks to explore the effects new technologies - centering on Western artificial intelligence - will have on our bodies and society, and inversely, how our cultures and environment will alter technology.

These ideas are explored in the following interviews. A conversation with AI researcher Youichiro Miyake about the decisive opportunities for creation found in the East, as fresh territory without preconceptions of AI rooted in Western philosophy and religion. A dialogue with Keita Nishiyama - a former public servant involved in setting information policy - about his personal cosmology and how it unifies life, information, and matter in a Markov Blanket model, intermixed with his personal published works and international examples. A three-way talk with artist Ginga Kondo, philosopher Reina Saijo, and social scientist Tomoko Shimizu on positioning AI as a technology that spontaneously opens society toward pluralism while carrying on the memories of diverse communities. And in an interview with Noh musician Noboru Yasuda and critic Yosuke Hamasaki, we chase down shifts in Japan's language, manners, and spiritual sensitivities before and after the modern era, while also contemplating ways for modern urban residents to take back the physicality they have lost touch with.

For special feature #01, "The East," our editor is critic and author of the 2021 book "Theory of Ghost in the Shell" (Sakuhinsha Co., Ltd.), Naoya Fujita. We hope you enjoy this look into local, alternative forms of AI, and the multifaceted future that awaits us.