In today's world, AI has become a key force for social progress and economic development. With the continuous advancement of technology, the application of AI has penetrated into all aspects of people's lives, from everyday intelligent assistants to complex industrial automation systems, the influence of AI is everywhere. In this global technological revolution, all countries are actively planning to achieve a leading position in the field of AI. However, while many countries have placed great emphasis on the development of AI, China and the United States are undoubtedly the current leaders in this field.
In such an international context, Japan, which is known for its technological innovation, has also shown its determination not to be left behind in the field of AI after missing the dividends of mobile Internet development. According to Japan's Kyodo News Agency, Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, announced on the 23rd local time that it will try to use generative AI to create a virtual avatar of the city's mayor "Katsuaki Kamiji", allowing him to introduce a summary of the regular press conference in English and release information.
In fact, the city of Yokosuka became the first city in Japan to experiment with ChatGPT for administrative assistance last year. This move reflects Japan's positive stance in catching up with the pace of AI development in China and the United States.
There is also a growing public opinion on AI in Japan. A survey by PwC found that in spring 2023, only 10% of respondents said they used generative AI in applications such as ChatGPT. Just six months later, that number jumped to 73 percent.
Keidanren issued a proposal on April 16 asking the Japanese government to formulate a comprehensive industrial strategy with a focus on around 2040. Keidanren emphasized that digitalization is effective in tackling the declining birthrate and aging population and manpower shortage, and called for the next three years to be a period of concentrated investment in AI development, with all measures including tax and regulatory reforms being employed.
Japan's focus on AI has also attracted the attention of many technology companies.
OpenAI announced on the 15th of this month that it will open its first office in Asia in Tokyo, expand its business to Asia, and will release a custom GPT-4 model optimized for Japanese. OpenAI said it is committed to working with the Japanese government, local businesses, and research institutions to develop secure AI tools that meet Japan's unique needs and create new opportunities.
On April 9, Eastern time, Microsoft announced that it would invest $2.9 billion over the next two years to increase its hyperscale cloud computing and AI infrastructure in Japan. It will also expand its digital skills program, aiming to provide AI skills to more than 3 million people over the next three years, opening the first Microsoft Research Asia lab in Japan. According to Bing, a ChatGPT-powered search engine released by Microsoft in February, Japan accounts for 10% of global registrations for the trial version, with the highest search volume per capita in Japan.
In November last year, according to Japanese media reports, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in a meeting with Japan's then Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasunori Nishimura that it could meet Japan's demand for advanced computing capabilities in the field of AI.
More pragmatic AI application goalsAccording to research by Goldman Sachs, breakthroughs in generative AI research could drive global GDP growth by 7% over the next 10 years. In this context, global technology companies are also working on large language models. Major tech giants in the U.S. and China have already launched their own large language models.
Compared to China and the United States, Japan does not have the superior resources to develop large models. Japanese economist Yukio Noguchi wrote in August last year that Japan is lagging behind the rest of the world when it comes to generative AI, and "there are concerns about whether Japan can keep up with the dramatic changes."
At present, Japan is facing social and economic problems such as an aging population, labor shortage, increasing fiscal expenditure burden, and continued economic recession, and AI is generally seen as a way to solve existing problems and new economic growth points. Given the potential of generative AI, companies must not only use it as a tool to improve operational efficiency and productivity, but also gain a competitive advantage by transforming their products, business models and business organizations, according to a report by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry last year on digital rollout.
NEC, a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics company, has developed its own enterprise-focused generative AI system called cotomi, with plans to provide more versions for specific industries such as manufacturing and healthcare. Japanese startup Preferred Networks is designing custom chips for machines that power generative artificial intelligence.
According to a survey previously released by Nikkei, only one of the 94 major companies surveyed does not plan to use generative AI. According to the survey, 83% of companies are aiming to reduce working hours, 67% are aiming to improve productivity and increase sales, and 63% are aiming to reduce sales and management costs and labor costs.
Sega Cheng, co-founder and CEO of iKala, a Taiwanese company that helps businesses implement AI solutions, said Japanese companies are looking to build long-term relationships with foreign companies. As the workforce continues to shrink, Japan aims to become a leader in demonstrating the benefits of higher productivity brought about by AI. The healthcare industry is facing severe staffing shortages (an aging population requiring higher levels of medical care) that is considered a key target area by industry experts.
The Japanese government plans to help foster an AI environment in an effort to ensure that the country has the resources needed for this digital transformation, including plans to establish a national research institute to ensure the security of AI technology.
Unlike the EU's strict regulation, Japan's Copyright Law was amended in 2018 to add an exemption from fair use of machine learning, allowing AI to freely use copyrighted works without the permission of the copyright owner. The Japanese government has also repeatedly reiterated that it "will not implement copyright protection for data used in AI training".
In 2022, the Japanese government released the "Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2022", proposing that mathematical science, data science, and artificial intelligence education should be regarded as the basic education content of the "Society 5.0 era", and that mathematical and physical sciences should be strengthened from the early education stage, and the information and communication infrastructure of all disciplines at all levels should be improved, so as to improve students' ability to apply mathematics and science. Japan plans to train 250,000 professionals in the field of data science and artificial intelligence every year, identify and cultivate 2,000 innovative talents in this field, 100 top talents in the world, and carry out on-the-job training for 1 million social personnel in related fields every year.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology will provide financial support to top talents engaged in the development of next-generation artificial intelligence and other technologies from fiscal 2024, and will institutionalize this measure by providing 20 million yen per year to young researchers and 6 million yen to graduate students. The Japanese government has set a goal of nurturing 2,000 AI experts per year who can play an active role on the global stage by 2025.
In April last year, the Japanese government established an AI strategy group, with the Cabinet as the center, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the Digital Agency, and the Personal Information Protection Commission all serve as members of the group to discuss national strategies related to AI. In order to better support the development of the AI industry, the Japanese government released an updated semiconductor strategy in June last year, aiming to triple the sales of domestically produced semiconductors to more than 15 trillion yen by 2030.
According to Nikkei, Japan's ruling party will propose that the government introduce a new law regulating generative AI technology in 2024, and it is reported that the ruling party's move is in response to growing concerns about AI-related disinformation and infringements, and the party's AI project team plans to draft preliminary rules for Microsoft-backed developers of generative large models such as GPT and Sora, which may include criminal regulations.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has set a target of increasing domestic computing power by 20 to 30 times the current level by the end of fiscal 2027. The government will have an additional budget of 180 billion yen in fiscal 2023 to provide subsidies for companies to install supercomputers and develop generative AI.
summaryWith the rapid development of AI technology around the world, Japan is actively embracing this change, not only applying AI technology in local administrative work, but also formulating a series of strategies and policies at the national level to promote the in-depth development and application of AI technology. From the virtual mayor of Yokosuka City to a nationwide AI strategy, Japan is working hard to overcome the lack of resources through government guidance and corporate innovation, and is focusing on the practical application of AI to solve socio-economic problems such as an aging population and labor shortages.
At the same time, the Japanese government is also actively cultivating AI talents, strengthening infrastructure construction, and providing support and regulation for the development of AI at the legal level. Through these measures, Japan aims to become an AI leader with productivity advantages and a place in the global AI field.