AI Education Eyed for All Univ., Technical College Students

March 30, 2019

Tokyo- A panel of experts on Friday called for all university and technical college students in Japan to be given beginner-level education on artificial intelligence.

This is part of a package of AI-related proposals presented by the panel at the day's meeting of the Japanese government's innovation promotion council, headed by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.

The proposals are expected to be reflected in a comprehensive innovation policy package, which will be drawn up around June, and an AI strategy, to be formulated by summer.

In Japan, a total of some 500,000 people graduate from universities and technical colleges every year.

The expert panel called for having all university and technical college students take beginner-level programs on math, data science and AI, and letting half of them, or around 250,000 students, acquire skills to apply AI to their own fields of studies.

It also asked the government to provide working adults with opportunities to learn skills to use AI.

Aiming to beef up research and development on AI, the panel proposed the establishment of a related network of cooperation with universities and other research organizations. The government was urged to strengthen its support for AI and other researchers.

As areas where AI should be actively used, the panel cited the health, medical and nursing care sectors, agriculture, measures to make the nation resilient against disasters, transport infrastructure and logistics, and regional revitalization.

The panel specifically hopes that AI will be utilized to reduce the burdens on people working in the medical and nursing care sectors, beef up safety of infrastructure at low repair costs, and promote so-called smart cities.

At Friday's meeting, the government council decided seven principles that researchers and others should take into account in establishing an AI society with humans at its center, including respect of fundamental human rights, privacy protection and the creation of an environment to ensure fair competition. Jiji Press