Kazuhiko Shibuya - The Rise of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data in Pandemic Society: Crises, Risk and Sacrifice in a New World Order

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At the brink of the COVID-19 pandemic, this book was conceptualized by the author. At the time before the outbreak (February 20, 2020), a book on digital and computational social sciences, which was edited by the author, had just been published (Shibuya, 2020). In succession, at the time of confronting with such global pandemic (March 11, 2020), next, the author started writing a new book on social phenomena of such pandemic by standing on own philosophical and sociological foundations.

Namely the main goal of this book serves some of the fundamental questions that the author has been contemplating. Can the humanity coexist beyond the social evil inevitably engendered by the pursuit of the highest good (Summum bonum) among individuals?, how to cooperate with each nation beyond the decoupling of the world order?, and how to minimize entire sacrifices at confronting with any tragedy, if possible, how to avoid such situations in advance?.

In the past, Voltaire said History is only the register of crimes and misfortunes. Human history could be certainly traced as somehow endlessly survival process from lethal crisis, and it means that human history had been inscribing into the record by survivors in each time. However, every time the humankind overcame each crisis such as infectious disease, disasters, and others, our ancestors had made a lot of the progress since the birth of our civilizations. For example, during the plague epidemic in Europe in the seventeenth century, Newton's discovery of universal gravitation and calculus had been established.

So, what lessons did humanity learn from the COVID-19 pandemic? However, humanity had not even been able to solve such situation. Here, the pandemic of COVID-19 was claimed as an incomparable emerging disease in recent decades. The most important was that the ordinary risk management and quarantine regime was unable to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic, and indeed it posed the challenge of whether it can adequately and effectively save people when another infectious disease (such as Ebola hemorrhagic fever) that is more lethal than COVID-19 spreads in the future. Further, aftermath of the COVID-19 revealed the inside of the humanity facing such extraordinary and emergency situations. We observed many issues such as blames against the others with infected symptoms, repeatable claims about epidemic policies among the citizens, mindless exclusiveness between multicultural heterogeneity, and further global tensions among the nations after the pandemic due to triggering the balance of powers between China and the USA. Many of the citizens literally missed social distance to sustain the coexistence among the others.

If there was one fact that COVID-19 exposed, it might have been the reality of the revenge of the poor. Many of the poor and minorities became victims of COVID-19. Normally, it is the same as always, the nameless who are not cared about priceless life by the government that are impoverished, but when countless poor people suffer and die, it is clear that not only do we lose the labor force that supports the bottom of the social economy, but also the social economy stops functioning at its very core. The wealthy had no choice but to splurge in search of investment opportunities. Citizens, whose survival continued to be threatened, feared unemployment, sought stable employment opportunities, and intensified their criticism of the government. Such a situation led to growing unrest in the society as a whole, and mutual distrust led people to riot and engaged in prejudiced fake news. The hard work of medical doctors and specialists was more than gratuitous self-sacrifice. As domestic order and governance diverged from the hopes of citizens, the nation and the world as a whole stood on the brink of collapse. In other words, when the people who have always been responsible for sacrifices are no longer there, no longer able to do so, or cannot be replaced, the entire world turns into chaos. In fact, in the Corona disaster, what was seen in many parts of the world was the fact of who is responsible for the daily sacrifices and the absurdity of the reality by the causality.

Regarding such fundamental matters, this book especially devotes to conducting a study on the human nature confronting with the crisis. And it is mainly edited to synthesize and discuss rich idea from sociology, risk studies, and digital social sciences, because the author convinces that it requires to reconsider the common depth of both the COVID-19 pandemic and international order in the age of After Corona. China has been accused by global countries, where the COVID-19 pandemic originated. And international tension on economics and military aspects between China and the USA has already been invoking before the pandemic. It is historically considered as a derivation of The Thucydides Trap between them. And then, China and its historical culture seems to hold the keys for understanding how to coordinate with the Western sides. This book intended to explore the possibility of conflict or cooperation with the emerging Asian values (i.e., Eastness) in the current situation where the values of Western society (i.e., Westness) are said to be disappearing (i.e., Westnessless).

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the dichotomy of either health care or economic policy was also prevalent in the world. Whichever one was chosen, not only many of those who were infected but also those who were impoverished were killed, regardless of which one they prioritized. Why is it too difficult for the humanity to cooperate together to confront with the crisis? Can be a selfish act of escaping an infection at the sacrifices of the others justified? Why don't the great powers join hands for global cooperation? Moreover, despite the many sacrifices undertaken by countries and citizens in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, which has become a new historical fact, the essence of the problem remains unresolved.