[Kyodo News, June 20]Shinji Okuyama, the Japanese legal representative of Google, expressed his intention to cultivate talents who are proficient in generative artificial intelligence (AI) throughout the country in an interview with Kyodo News on June 19. He said that the use of advanced technologies such as AI “is easily thought to start in big cities, but the opportunities to unlock possibilities are hidden in the local areas.”

2023 is called the “first year of generative AI,” and the appearance of this technology itself has brought a great impact to society. Regarding the initiative announced that day to use generative AI to solve local issues, Okuyama pointed out that “in the future, we will usher in an era of practical application, and the theme of local areas will definitely follow closely.”

Okuyama explained that the targets of AI-related investments so far have mostly been infrastructure equipment such as data centers. Compared with Europe and the United States, Japan is considered to be short of cutting-edge technical talents due to its declining birthrate, but Okuyama said, “Not only in Tokyo and Osaka, but in all prefectures, there are a large number of active and dynamic talents,” emphasizing the need to invest in talents. (End)