AI can quickly suggest what appears to be the most efficient solution. But convenience alone does not always make something the right choice for a particular person. My recent hotel stay in Nagoya was a good example.
Today, I am in Nagoya for a medical conference.
Some people may wonder why anyone would willingly travel to scorching-hot Nagoya, but of course, I am not here on vacation. I came because of the conference.
I have been assigned to chair one session, so I spent much of yesterday preparing for it.
The temperature apparently reached 39 degrees Celsius yesterday, and today is expected to be about the same.
I would like to get inside the venue as soon as possible.
When this conference first began, we used to rent a nice hall in central Tokyo. However, support from pharmaceutical companies has gradually declined, and in recent years the organizers have more or less been keeping the meeting going out of their own pockets.
The venue has also moved a little farther away from central Nagoya, but the rental fee is lower, and necessity leaves little room for choice.
The location is not particularly convenient either from Nagoya Station, where the Shinkansen arrives, or from the nearest subway route to the venue. Choosing a hotel is therefore always rather troublesome.
This time, I asked AI to help me select one.
It considered both the subway connection from Nagoya Station and the route to the conference venue, and recommended a hotel near Sakae.
The transportation was certainly convenient.
The neighborhood, however, was rather rough.
I arrived at the nearest station at around seven in the evening. Several women in elaborate evening clothes got off the train with me, and I thought the area felt like a shabby, downmarket version of Ginza.
Once I came above ground and saw the glittering, almost overdecorated neon signs, everything made sense.
My first move was to hurry into the hotel.
I had decided that evening to eat “miso katsu that did not come in a boxed meal.” Miso katsu is a Nagoya specialty consisting of a pork cutlet covered in a thick miso-based sauce.
I had eaten nothing on the Shinkansen except a bag of nuts, so I was hungry.
According to the map, there was a supposedly famous restaurant only a few hundred meters away, so I headed there.
The food was not especially delicious, but neither was it bad. There is no need to say much more about it here.
When I left the restaurant after eight, however, walking through the neighborhood felt like crossing a swamp where crocodiles were waiting with their mouths open.
A middle-aged man walking alone without so much as a bag would probably look obviously like a business traveler to anyone who knew what to look for.
Feeling rather nervous, I avoided making eye contact with anyone and hurried back to the hotel.
I must be getting old.
I found myself missing the days when I could walk innocently through Kabukicho, Tokyo’s famous nightlife district, without worrying very much.
Back at the hotel, I said to the young man at the front desk,
“This is quite a frightening neighborhood, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” he replied. “It is quite a lively area.”
That was certainly one way of putting it.
There had been plenty of young men like him standing around on the street. Put a tattoo on his arm, and I probably would not have been able to tell him apart from them at all.
So, in terms of transportation, AI had chosen an almost perfect hotel.
The surrounding environment, however, was not necessarily a good fit for me.
When consulted, AI can instantly present something close to an optimal solution. But as this experience showed, the result can sometimes be less than ideal.
Some people may say that I should have given it more detailed instructions.
Perhaps so.
But finding an appropriate choice within a limited budget is more difficult than it sounds.
And even now, I cannot honestly say that the hotel was a bad choice.
AI may find the most efficient answer, but only a human being can decide whether that answer truly feels right.
・・・
scorching-hot
Extremely hot, often to an uncomfortable or dangerous degree.
焼けつくように暑い、猛暑の
chair a session
To lead and manage a formal conference session or academic discussion.
学会や会議のセッションで座長を務める
out of one’s own pocket
Using one’s own money rather than money provided by an organization or another person.
自腹で、自費で
necessity leaves little room for choice
A situation in which practical circumstances make other options impossible.
背に腹は代えられない、やむを得ず選択する
rough neighborhood
An area considered unsafe, disorderly, or socially unstable.
治安や雰囲気のよくない地域
downmarket
Less fashionable, prestigious, or expensive than another place or product.
場末の、大衆的な、格の低い
make sense
To become understandable or logically clear.
合点がいく、納得できる
business traveler
A person traveling for work rather than for leisure.
出張者
a good fit
Something suitable for a particular person, purpose, or situation.
相性がよい、適している
optimal solution
The best possible solution under a given set of conditions.
最適解
less than ideal
Not completely satisfactory, although not necessarily bad.
理想的とは言えない、いまひとつの
#AI #Nagoya #BusinessTravel #MedicalConference #pathologist
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