AI embrace: Japan's late start may be a blessing in disguise

The country could learn from the mistakes made by first-movers

- CATHERINE THORBECKE

The country is wary, but and eager to catch up

In the US, the backlash to artificial intelligence (AI) seems to be scaling almost as fast as the technology itself.

In the US, the backlash to artificial intelligence (AI) seems to be scaling almost as fast as the technology itself. Japan offers a different case study. The country has been slow to adopt AI, but it seems unusually calm about it. From the outside, its late start is easy to dismiss as another sign of digital underperformance. It may instead prove a valuable opportunity to skip some of the messier, early phases of diffusion that have been marked by hype, risk and expensive experimentation.

Japan can learn from first-movers and skip to the impactful part of turning the technology into economic infrastructure. AI has the potential to be more practical than performative here; there is less angst about displacing workers when the labour force is shrinking. Some of the nation’s issues, from how to care for an ageing population to language barriers and software gaps, are exactly the kinds AI can solve.

Diffusion, meanwhile, is finally picking up. During the first quarter this year, AI adoption in Japan rose 3.4 percentage points, over three times faster than the global average, according to Microsoft’s AI Economy Institute Q1 report. Separate data from Docomo found usage nearly doubled between this February and last.