Japan Aims to Raise Public AI Use to 80 Pct

Tokyo, Dec. 6 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government has drawn up a draft of its basic program on the development and use of artificial intelligence, aiming to increase the AI utilization rate among the public initially to 50 pct and eventually to 80 pct.

The draft, obtained Friday, emphasizes the need to boost AI usage with a view to developing Japan's own AI technologies.

It also seeks a policy to attract about 1 trillion yen in private-sector investment to enhance research and development activities. The government aims to adopt the basic program at a cabinet meeting by the end of the year.

Currently, the United States and China are taking the lead in the development of AI, with the proportion of people who have used generative AI standing at 68.8 pct and 81.2 pct, respectively, far higher than 26.7 pct in Japan.

The draft highlights the importance of raising AI utilization across society to promote development. AI is positioned as a social infrastructure, described as "an intellectual foundation and an execution platform."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]