The fourth Industrial Revolution and Asia’s soft power, 2

■The fourth Industrial Revolution and Asia’s soft power, 2      

I will pick up the questions I answered during the discussion.

Q There are many factors that go into soft power. Which should Asia focus on?

A Traditional culture, popular culture, religion, values, lifestyles - there are many different factors.

　Even more than that, Asia is diverse. Apart from the lineup here, there is China as well as North Korea.

　Making everyone focus on one thing is unrealistic.

　Japan has focused on its pop culture, which can be easily accepted overseas, but each country should focus on training its own power.

Q The fourth Industrial Revolution is causing chaos and disparities. What do you think?

A The fourth Industrial Revolution is linking objects with other objects and exceeding human communication. When it reaches the point where it even exceeds humans’ abilities, it will divide human history into two parts. A societal transition will be needed into the post-revolution period. There will probably be chaos too.

　But just like the economic system stabilized and grew after the Industrial Revolution, I believe that this time will also lead to the growth of the economic system in the long run.

　For this purpose, we need to mobilize not just technology but our knowledge about the world related to economics, society, ethics, religion, politics, etc., and establish mutual relations between humans and the new technology.

Q What are the issues?

A With the development of AI and IoT, the retention and usage of data is the most important issue.

　If this is controlled by specific countries or businesses, it is likely to turn into the sprouts of new conflict.

　A policy conference on data is becoming necessary.

Q What are the roles of each country’s government?

A The Japanese government has been supporting the growth of R&D and of the culture industry; beyond that, the education that nurtures the creativity and communication abilities needed to make good use of this technology is important.

　Externally, it’s important to set a place where exchange can happen about these diverse values.