Through an interview with Audrey Tang (唐鳳), a co-creation model combining edge AI with frontline talent was proposed as a way for Japan to prevail in the AI development race. The physical AI sector is forecast to expand to approximately ¥19 trillion by 2030.
In an exclusive interview with ITmedia, Audrey Tang (唐鳳) said that for Japan to avoid falling behind in the US-China AI race, it should move quickly into specific domains and promote AI that performs computations at the edge, rather than pursue the ultimate AI. Tang also emphasized that this would help curb surveillance and privacy concerns by keeping data from being sent to servers.
Tang used the spread of AI like electricity as an analogy and argued that it is important to draw on Japan’s frontline capabilities and manufacturing expertise. Tang explained that embedding edge AI throughout society would make it essential to build deployment infrastructure on a scale comparable to the power grid.
It was pointed out that for Japan to regain global leadership, an effective approach would be to move away from competition over massive models and combine edge AI, which limits enormous power consumption, with a co-creation model that brings frontline workers into the AI processing loop. Tang also referred to the strength of Japan’s cultural imagination.
In the physical AI sector, which is forecast to reach approximately ¥19 trillion by 2030, Japan’s manufacturing expertise and frontline capabilities could become key strengths, according to the view presented. Japan is said to need to explore a sustainable strategy in this sector.