建設現場の期待背負うフィジカルAIロボ、転ばない「強化学習」も

In the age of artificial intelligence, a monastery in South Korea is embarking on a project to painstakingly recreate a 800-year-old Buddhist scripture known as the Palmyang Jeung Yak. At a ceremony on June 29th at the Haeinsa Temple in Hapcheon, a special blessing and inauguration of the 'Palmyang Jeung Yak Painting Committee' will take place.

This project aims to create new Palmyang Jeung Yak, not by merely copying or replacing the existing one but by embodying the spirit of the original and the values of the labor-intensive process. The project focuses on inheriting the spirit of the original creation, the wisdom and intentions behind the scripture's creation, and the values tied to each character written.

In 13th-century Korea, the kingdom came together in response to the Mongol invasion, striving to protect the peace and safety of its people by creating the Palmyang Jeung Yak. The Haeinsa Temple today reinterprets this spirit to address the challenges of war, conflict, climate change, natural disasters, nuclear threats, and the rapid advancement of technology.

The project's theme, "Recreating the Palmyang Jeung Yak for humanity," symbolizes the collective effort of humanity to overcome these crises. The temple's digitalization of the Palmyang Jeung Yak and its translation into multiple languages have been ongoing efforts, but the unique qualities of human touch, perseverance, compassion, and the wish for others' happiness cannot be fully replicated by technology.

The head monk, Hyeyeol, emphasized that while AI can generate information, humans must imbue it with intent and responsibility. The project aims to pass down not only the physical material but also the intentions and spirit to future generations. Over the next decade, the temple plans to cultivate people who can learn techniques from the forest, prepare and shape the wood, and carve the characters onto the Palmyang Jeung Yak.

The temple has already established a Palmyang Jeung Yak School for specialized education and has graduated 500 students so far, with plans to involve around 100 highly-skilled individuals in the actual work. The temple has confirmed that the Palmyang Jeung Yak's material is made up of 70% camphor wood and 30% oak, and they have started a process to obtain 300 tons of wood, including submerging it in water for three years before drying it.