Artificial Intelligence: Comeback Chance for Japanese Manufacturing

Chance for a Manufacturing Revival

Considering how well suited Japan is to AI, it could provide a chance for our country’s manufacturing sector to shine again. The prospects should be especially good for companies in fields like sensors, security, logistics, robotics, and infrastructure. Their ability to use this chance may well hold the key to our country’s future.

So far we seem to be doing reasonably well within Japan. Both the government and businesses are keeping up with developments at a relatively rapid pace and working to take advantage of the opportunities that AI presents. On the business side, Dwango (a telecommunications and media company) has established an AI research lab, and a number of major corporations like Recruit are planning similar moves.

A wave of start-ups are also emerging. Preferred Infrastructure, the company with the greatest technological strength in the field, has established Preferred Networks as a firm specializing in deep learning and the “Internet of Things.” This is a star prospect for Japan’s manufacturing sector.

On the government side, in May this year METI established the Artificial Intelligence Research Center within the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. Tsuji Jun’ichi, who was previously at Microsoft’s research institute in China, has been placed in charge of the center, and the process of recruiting researchers and establishing the organizational framework is progressing steadily. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, meanwhile is also conducting studies into AI as the next major current in science and technology. And the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is looking ahead to the new prospects for communications and intelligence with deliberations that are even considering the “singularity” (when AI overtakes human thinking). For my own part, I have moved quickly to establish an AI teaching program at the University of Tokyo, which has received generous offers of support from corporations.

Aim to Lead the World in AI

Though we cannot predict the outcome, the chances for Japan are great. So far we are doing reasonably well. And we may be able to turn AI into a major legacy for the generations to come.

I hope we will be able to orient the AI boom in the right direction. AI offers the chance for a revival of Japanese manufacturing. It may allow us to maintain productivity and enjoy comfortable lives even as our country’s population contracts. Japan may be able to play the lead role in building the society of the future—a society of convenience, safety, and peace of mind, where people can live and work in a more human way.