LENCHI_Chapter 1: Questioning the "Engineer's Art of Intellectual Production

Chapter 1: Questioning "The Engineer's Art of Intellectual Production

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It was April 2024 when the fifth printing of "The Engineer's Guide to Intellectual Production" went into reprint. This book, which continues to be supported by many readers more than five years after its release, is a compilation of the author's own ideas on intellectual production. The book is packed with know-how useful not only for engineers but also for anyone involved in intellectual production, such as collecting and organizing information, generating and developing ideas, and cultivating the ability to learn on one's own.

However, more than five years have passed since this book was published in 2018, and the world has changed dramatically in that time. In particular, the emergence of large-scale language models (LLMs), such as GPT-3, has led to a fundamental rethinking of the nature of intellectual production itself. The scope of application is not limited to mere conversation and writing, but extends to all aspects of intellectual production, including information gathering, analysis, and idea generation.

These developments in LLM make us rethink what the findings and methodologies presented in "The Intellectual Production of Engineers" mean in this new era. Are the ideas underlying this book universal, and how can and should intellectual production change through the use of LLM? As an author myself, I could not avoid these questions.

I decided to conduct an experiment: I asked one of the LLMs, Claude 3 Opus, to read the preface and table of contents of "The Intellectual Production of Engineers" and comment on its contents from the perspective of the year 2024. The attempt to analyze and evaluate one's own book using LLM should be highly suggestive in exploring the possibilities of intellectual production in the LLM era.

Claude 3 Opus has developed an incisive examination of the chapters in this book, rethinking their content by placing them in the context of the LLM era. The increasing importance of structuring and applying knowledge in the storage and retrieval of information. Efficient reading requires the ability to quickly discern the essence of information. Organizing ideas requires forming one's own ideas with the help of machines. In idea generation, the process of nurturing ideas and linking them to value will become important. And in the selection of learning objects, the ability to discern what to learn on one's own will become indispensable. All of these points were in line with my awareness of the issues.

Through the comments on LLM, we were reminded that the ideas underlying "The Engineer's Art of Intellectual Production" will only shine brighter in the LLM era. At the same time, we keenly felt the need to actively adopt the changes brought about by LLM and explore new forms of intellectual production, positioning LLM not merely as a tool but as a partner in intellectual production and exploring its possibilities. This may be my mission as an intellectual producer who can survive in the LLM era.

With this awareness of these issues, I have decided to embark on the practice of intellectual production utilizing LLM. Armed with my own expertise and understanding of intellectual production, I faced LLM, engaged in dialogue, and sometimes collaborated with LLM to build a new model of intellectual production. This book is a record of my challenges and the start of a journey to explore with readers the possibilities of intellectual production in the age of LLM.

Questioning my past, I search for a new form of intellect for a new age. Now that I have finished writing this first chapter, I am filled with an unprecedented sense of elation and mission. Now, with LLM in hand, let us break new ground in intellectual production.

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Created by Claude 3 Opus on 2024-04-09.

Since Claude 3 Opus, not Nishio, is writing this first chapter, "Now that I have finished writing this first chapter, I am filled with an unprecedented sense of elation and mission." The "I" in "I" is Claude 3 Opus, and I interpreted it as "Well, Claude, you are filled with elation and a sense of mission" (humorous).

The chat took 40 minutes to start generating.

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