FUKUTOMI GAZETTE

In the late 1970s, during my years as a student in England, the pursuit of knowledge was both a physical and financial endurance test. If I wanted to understand a subject in depth, the process was arduous: I had to hunt down an exhaustive dictionary or spend countless hours in libraries poring over reference books. I still remember being marketed a prestigious set of encyclopedias—23 volumes, each three inches thick. The price was staggering at over one thousand Pounds. To afford it, I committed to an installment plan of £25 per month, a massive sum considering my total monthly income was only £120, earned through long hours working at a takeaway shop. In those days, information wasn’t just power; it was a luxury earned through sweat and sacrifice.

Today, I truly doubt that anyone under the age of forty can fully grasp what an encyclopedia once represented. To the younger generation, these volumes are relics of a bygone era, because the very concept of a "static" book of knowledge has been rendered obsolete. During a recent relocation, my family asked whether I still wanted to keep that old set. Without hesitation, I said yes. Those 23 volumes have been with us for more than 45 years. While I no longer have a practical need for them, they are a vital memory—a silent witness to how dramatically technology has evolved and how much profoundly the world has changed since I was a young student.

In my youth, we spent our meager savings simply to learn. We studied because we hungered for knowledge, and a degree was the essential "passport" to a career. Learning required physical presence: schools, colleges, teachers, and face-to-face interaction were the only gateways to advancement. Today, the landscape has shifted entirely.

With AI tools such as Gemini, DeepSeek, and ChatGPT, the sum of human knowledge is at your fingertips, ready to be synthesized in seconds. This is not merely a new tool; it is a new beginning. AI is reshaping our world by automating routine tasks to create new high-value roles, fostering global social connectivity through real-time translation, and optimizing resource management to drive the circular economy—solving complex recycling challenges and reducing environmental waste through precision technology.

We have moved from an era which we chased knowledge to one in which knowledge chases us. As we stand at the threshold of 2026, looking at those dusty volumes on my shelf, I realize we are no longer just reading an encyclopedia; we are living inside a dynamic, digital one that every single day.