Japan’s Long Return to Artificial Intelligence |
In the neon-lit laboratories of 1980s Japan, the future seemed already written. While Silicon Valley was in its infancy, Tokyo was already pouring billions into several major technology programs aimed at supporting cutting-edge scientific research. These included the Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology (ERATO), next-generation R&D program, and the Act for Strengthening Infrastructure for Research and Development of Industrial Technologies. Japanese companies took the cue, with Toyota starting to explore the auto-drive and voice command system, while the likes of Hitachi, Toshiba, and Panasonic had developed their own robotics divisions. The Japanese government also launched the “Fifth Generation Computer” project, aiming to create an “epoch-making computer” to surpass Europe and the United States in the field of information and technology.
Unsurprisingly, it was also in Japan that neocognitron, the architectural ancestor of the neural networks that power systems like ChatGPT, was developed by computer scientist Kunihiko Fukushima.
Yet, as the asset bubble burst in the 1990s, Japan’s digital sun set. A “lost two decades” followed, characterized by capital flight and a devastating brain drain, which saw many researchers leave the country. Today, Japan finds itself in an unfamiliar position where it is watching a technological revolution it helped to imagine take shape largely beyond its borders.
Now, Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae’s government is attempting an ambitious strategic reset. Building on the successes of its 2015 Revitalization........