Government would be happy if you at least tried generating a mildly bawdy limerick.

It’s certainly hard to imagine life before generative AI came out. Without it, I never would have known what my microwave looked like if it were in a Studio Ghibli movie, or felt the lingering dread that anything I read or saw online is neither authentic human expression nor correct.

And yet, despite these revolutionary changes to society, in its annual Communications White Paper Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications says that gen-AI is being underused in Japan compared to the rest of the world.

According to the white paper, only 26.7 percent of people in Japan have ever used generative AI. While that nearly tripled last year’s 9.1 percent usage rate, it’s still far below other countries’ rates, such as 81.2 in China, 68.8 in the USA, and 59.2 in Germany.

One might be quick to assume Japan’s aging population is to blame, but even when focusing solely on people in their 20s, the rate is still only 44.7 percent, and usage by business is only slightly higher at 49.7. Also interesting to note is that AI usage by people in their 30s in Japan is slightly lower than by people in their 40s, with 23.8 and 29.6 percent respectively.

▼ Feline usage, however, remains abysmally low.

The white paper concludes that “Japan is lagging behind AI-advanced countries of the world in terms of technology, industry, and applications, and further promotion of AI usage is needed in daily life.” Online comments from trending-news Internet portal Hachima Kiko didn’t disagree, but felt that certain aspects of Japanese society may need changing first.

“I don’t do anything like AI illustrations, but it’s good for expanding on searches and proofreading.”
“I’m not surprised. We’re struggling to get people to use cashless payment systems.”
“We should start by replacing everyone on TV with generated characters to end all the harassment and abuse there.”
“Using AI in game rendering can greatly reduce memory usage. I wonder if Japanese game makers are looking into it properly.”
“Japan needs to stop using floppy disks and fax machines first.”
“Maybe we just prefer the warmth of humanity.”
“That many people are using it in China?!”
“I think if there were a domestically produced AI, more people would get into it.”
“It’s not important how widely it’s used, but if it’s being used properly.”
“In Japan, people who have used it to make money were arrested, and people who used it online were harassed.”

In fairness, the people who were arrested were using AI to make money in illegal ways, so I don’t think that’s a valid argument that Japan has a stifling environment. If anything, it shows there are AI entrepreneurs here trying to make things happen. People just need to find more legitimate applications of it.

That being said, I’ve recently had to deal with a few AI customer service bots from other countries and wasn’t really blown away by their effectiveness. Maybe Japan can stand to be a little sluggish on AI adoption until it starts working a little more smoothly.

Source: Communications White Paper, FNN Online Prime, Hachima Kiko
Featured image: Pakutaso
Insert image: Pakutaso
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!