Hello, readers!
These days, AI is everywhere! Everyone talks about AI. AI means “artificial intelligence.” But I had a question. Why do we use the word “artificial”?
When I think of “art,” I think of paintings or music. But “artificial” means “made by humans.” These two words seem very different. So I decided to look into this mystery!
What I discovered:
The secret is in an ancient word: “AR”
Long ago, there was a simple word “AR.” It meant “putting things together” or “fitting things together.”
How “art” was born:
・Art comes from this old word “AR”
・Art means skill – the ability to put things together well
・When an artist makes a painting, they put colors, shapes, and ideas together
How “artificial” was born:
・Artificial also comes from “AR”
・The “-ficial” part comes from a Latin word “facere” (meaning “to make”)
・So “artificial” originally meant “made with skill by humans”
・It did not mean “fake” at first!
Bonus discovery: The word “order” also comes from “AR”! When everything fits together well, we have “order.”
My conclusion:
AI = Artificial Intelligence = “Intelligence made with human skill”
It’s interesting to look back at old words sometimes. Usually we think about AI and the future. But today we looked at AI and the past!
See you next time!
私立学校に英語教師として勤務中、40代半ばに差し掛かったころ、荒れたクラスを立て直す策として、生徒に公言して英検1級に挑戦することを思い立つ。同様の挑戦を繰り返し、退職までに英検一級（検定連合会長賞）、TOEIC満点、国連英検SA級、フランス語一級、スペイン語一級（文科大臣賞）、ドイツ語一級、放送大学大学院修士号などの成果を得る。
アメリカで生徒への対応法を学ぶ為に研修（地銀の助成金）。最新の心理学に触れた。4都県での全発表、勤務校での教員への研修を英語で行う。現在も特別選抜クラスの授業を全て英語で行っている。「どうやって単語を覚えればいいですか？」という良くある質問に答える為、印欧祖語からの派生に基づく「生徒には見せたくない語源英単語集」を執筆中。完成間近。常日頃洋書の読破で様々な思考にふれているが、そうして得た発想の一つを生かして書いた論文がコロナ対策論文として最近入賞。賞品の牛肉に舌鼓をうっている。元英検面接委員