Report from the Riken Center for Advanced Intelligence Project (AIP) - Part 2

 ■Report from the Riken Center for Advanced Intelligence Project (AIP) - Part 2

The AIP center has a three-layer structure involving the Generic Technology Research Group, the Goal-Oriented Technology Research Group, and the Artificial Intelligence in Society Research Group.

Basic research to build a general foundation involves personal battles, as researchers who are strong in mathematics explore principles in a straightforward manner. We must exert ourselves in this field as a nation.

Goal-oriented applied research is a highly competitive field around the world that is driven by massive capital. The key is for research institutes to be open to cooperation instead of being closed off. Regarding this point, a hub has been formed through the creation of a center to connect with NEC, Toshiba, Fujitsu, and Fujifilm.

What is also significant is that efforts toward social issues are being insourced. The aim is to integrate arts and sciences to build AI society while also researching ethics, privacy, and systems. Given that AI provides the world with anxiety as well as hope, it is important for key personnel involved in research and development to have conversations with the public.

AI and robots will take jobs. Restlessness spread across Japan based on the results of research by the University of Oxford and other institutions. While there is no country safer than Japan, there is also no country with more anxiety than Japan.

Cashless settlements cannot be advanced due to anxiety. The process of introducing IT to elementary schools also stalls. The sharing economy does not spread either. This is a problem involving the atmosphere. I want to change the atmosphere.

If AI takes over 90% of jobs without reducing productivity, we only need to do 10% of the work to live if we can distribute funds properly through a basic income or other measures. There is no better news than this. I believe that a “super bored society” will come and I want it to come soon.

This society will seek a “playing style” revolution rather than a “working style” revolution. This society will involve super entertainment, super sports, the learning of tomorrow, and super romance. Creative ways to pass the time will become important. I believe it will likely become a society that is busier than it is now.

More than being a major nation in the development of AI, Japan should aim to be a major nation in its usage. This is similar to how female high school students turned emojis and photo sharing into a culture using IT and mobile technologies. Another example is how Japan created the video game industry using technologies produced in the United States. The idea is to implement new technologies ahead of the curve in fields like pop culture that Japan thrives in and fields like welfare and disaster prevention that Japan faces as a troubled advanced nation.

I would like the Japanese government to funnel policy-based funds toward research by Riken and other institutions. More than that, I would like it to provide guidance for the proactive usage of AI. We must first use it ourselves. AI can write all replies to Diet deliberations. AI can read it also.

Japan will be the center of global attention during the Tokyo Olympics. This is a great opportunity to show off the development and introduction of AI. As a personal endeavor, I am also working on a project to establish a special district in the Tokyo Bay area for the introduction of all technologies including AI, robotics, 5G, and 8K. The World Expo will be held in Osaka in 2025. I would like AIP to take advantage of these opportunities to make progress in open activities.