ONE HUNDRED FLOWERS – GENKI KAWAMURA and AI MEMORIES
Quotes- “Will the day come when artificial intelligence mimics the way we lose memory as well? Or will memory loss be considered an unnecessary function and thus never built in, even if AI is equipped to efficiently organise memories? (Kawamura 274)
“Some say it is our memories that make us human” (Kawamura 279)
In this month’s blog I will attempt a book review and also a short essay about the growing influence and debate around Artificial Intelligence. The essay will be linked to the questions that I have quoted from the afterword in the novel. Even though AI does not really feature in the book, it is an interesting decision for Genki Kawamura to leave us with this point of reflection.
One Hundred Flowers is a poignant book about a mother and son relationship. It explores Yuriko’s journey with dementia, and her son Izumi’s thoughts on their relationship in the past and present. Their relationship is one that has faced strain and the present acts as a way to reconcile the past. Izumi is also about to become a father, so he tries to think how he will be a parent. Izumi works for a music production company which is fast paced and demanding. The book captures modern life, in the way someone in their thirties might have to juggle helping an elderly parent, becoming a parent and a high-level job.
The book slowly explains what happened in the past, though I will not spoil it for you. Empathy lies with both mother and son, because often the unspoken pain of their lives is displayed. Yuriko’s dementia offers a blurring of what is reality in the present and what is the past in her head. I found this book powerful and emotional. I saw it in Waterstones, and immediately liked the story and cover. I do not often buy new books, but we all get that feeling when a book draws us to it. The mother-son relationship is one that changes as the child grows up and the mother becomes older. Izumi tries to see his mother as often as possible, but feels sadness and surprise if his mother’s condition has deteriorated since he last saw her.
I highly recommend this book. It is a fairly short novel but captures the themes in a powerful way. I especially liked the use of fireworks and the symbolism of light in the darkness. Also, the way they bring bright colours to a difficult time. It is a moment that Yuriko and Izumi find shared enjoyment during a challenging time. Childhood memories are evoked for both.
Turning to look at the way Artificial Intelligence links to the story, Kawamura is thinking to the future. AI is still largely new and untrained in many areas. People already have strong feelings about either it being great and a technological advancement, or it potentially taking away the ability for human creativity. As I mentioned earlier, One Hundred Flowers does not really explore AI. There is only one point in the novel where Izumi is at work and chats with his colleague, and they allude to the way AI is being used in the music industry. I found the questions that Kawamura poses about memory and AI deeply interesting.
The way Kawamura asks if the day will come when AI “mimics” memories, or if it will be seen as an “unnecessary function” because memory loss is opposite, to the forward-looking progress that AI seeks to promote. Memory is very personal to each person and Kawamura says it is “what makes us human”. Memories are the one thing that stay with us throughout our lives, unless we lose them to dementia. The idea that AI could be so advanced as to break the final barrier in human mimicry, by being able to generate memories, is a major ethical question.
One side could argue it could be revolutionary to reversing dementia and giving someone their memories back. This could essentially cure dementia and mean that someone does not forget their life and identity. It would be a huge advance in science and indeed, AI could then move to cure other human illnesses. However, on the other side it could be argued that by mimicking memories, AI would have absolute control and humans would lose the final aspect of autonomy that they have over it currently. If memories are what makes us human, then surely if AI gains the chance to create them, we lose our defining personality trait as humans? Does this mean that essentially, we are not human anymore or that AI assumes human identity? It is based on these deep ethical questions that I believe it is better if AI does not assume the chance to reverse memory loss. Of course, I hope to see a cure for dementia in my lifetime, but feel this would be an unknown way to do it. It could reshape the way humans live and have a relationship with technology.
I hope you enjoy this month’s blog, and the essay gives you pause for thought on these very current topics of AI and human progress. Also, I hope you enjoy One Hundred Flowers as much as I did. Kawamura is a highly skilled writer and tackles sensitive issues with respect and dignity.
Work Cited-
Amazon. “Amazon”. Amazon. Date Accessed: 22nd July 2025. URL: amazon.co.uk./One-Hundred-Flowers-Genki-Kawamura/dp/1804189596.
Kawamura, Genki. One Hundred Flowers. 1st Edition. Ithaka Press. 2025.