Masataka SugimotoChoose better, not best: The pride of a shogi master

Part 4: The best way to engage with AI

Show your students that you do your best and never stop improving yourself: Masataka Sugimoto’s attitude to shogi is sure to inspire business leaders. In the final part of this interview, Sugimoto talks about the best way to handle and engage with AI, as well as giving some encouraging advice to businesspeople of his own generation.

── AI is now commonplace in the world of shogi, just like elsewhere. How do you think professional shogi players should engage with AI?

Shogi techniques have advanced rapidly with the spread of AI. Young players these days skillfully incorporate AI into their game, playing at the cutting edge. But I feel that human experience and intuition are being somewhat ignored.

Conventional wisdom and moves that I have always believed in are being dismissed in favor of AI-generated solutions. This sometimes baffles me as a professional player. When I reconsider my role as a mentor in such times, I think it is more about teaching what only a human can teach.

AI provides us with knowledge, but the awareness beyond that knowledge is something that can only be taught by humans. How do we leverage the knowledge we gain from AI – in shogi, in life, or in work? Being able to give such advice is the role of a mentor.

── Going forward, how do you plan to approach shogi with this awareness?

AI has developed to the extent that it can now clearly show what is the “best” answer in shogi. But many professional players choose “better” rather than “best” – in other words, believing in their own best, rather than the answer given by AI. I think this shows that what AI believes is best and what humans believe is best are two different things.

Perhaps this is just the pride of a professional player speaking, though! I would like more people to enjoy the human aspect of shogi – the players’ personalities and emotions, beyond winning or losing. I hope this will attract more shogi players and fans.

── What advice would you give to people of your generation who feel adverse to AI?

I would say the older you are, the better the reason to take on new challenges. As well as helping you to understand how young people feel, it might lead to unexpected discoveries. I want to learn from young people and incorporate things that I was not interested in before, including AI.

However far AI may come, at the end of the day, people are people. The human connections that we have nurtured will not change. Rather than steeling yourself against AI, why not try making use of it, blended with your own wealth of experience?

── Do you have any advice for people struggling in their relationship with junior colleagues?

First of all, I think it’s important to enjoy your own work and live your own life to the fullest. As I have already said, showing young people that you are working hard and enjoying it is probably the best teaching tool there is.

From a young person’s perspective, our generation is where they will be a few decades from now. We cannot give them hopes and dreams unless they can see us living life to the fullest. No matter how old you are, never lose your enthusiasm for your work, and don’t forget how to enjoy each day. If you show a positive attitude, young people will naturally follow you.

── This interview will be read by people in the manufacturing industry. Are there any aspects of the items you use that you’re especially particular about?

Shogi sets usually come with spare pawns, probably because these pieces often get lost. When the pieces are lined up on the board, if I don’t like the grain of a pawn, I will sometimes swap it for a spare piece. Shogi pieces are made from natural wood, so they each have a unique wood grain. But this seems to be coming to an end with my generation. Fujii gave me a strange look when he saw me swapping pieces like this.
When it comes to manufacturing, I often pass Mitsubishi Electric’s plant in Nagoya which is near my home. It’s a really massive facility, isn’t it?

── Finally, please tell us about your future goals.

I would like to carry on as an active player for as long as I can. Although there is no mandatory retirement age from shogi, there is a retirement system – you gradually fall down the rankings and finally you have to retire. This retirement system is unrelated to age, so there are plenty of active players over the age of sixty.

I want to follow the example of these esteemed senior players and stay on the competitive stage for as long as possible. As a mentor, I want to do whatever I can to help my apprentices become great players. Best of all would be if one of my apprentices turns out to be a player who can challenge Fujii for the title!

── While chatting after the interview, we asked Sugimoto: “Mitsubishi Electric develops and designs products and systems for a wide range of fields, from home appliances to space. If you were to compare Mitsubishi Electric to a shogi piece, which piece would it be?” His reply was: “The piece with such diversity would have to be the rook.”

This was a great compliment, coming from a player known as a master of the Ranging Rook strategy. Just like business and everyday life, advances in AI are bringing greater diversity to shogi techniques. Some players focus on AI research, while others trust their own experience and intuition. The clash between these different approaches may be making today’s game even more fascinating.

This is the rook piece in shogi.

* This article is based on an interview conducted in January 2025.