Tokyo AI Festival Draws 40,000

The two-day summit, now in its 15th year, was organized by Amazon Web Services, the Amazon subsidiary that provides cloud computing, AI and other digital infrastructure to companies and organizations worldwide. More than 300 companies and developers presented their latest technologies and examples of how AI is being incorporated into business, public services and daily life.

AWS described the gathering as a place of learning for “builders,” a term covering engineers, entrepreneurs, corporate employees and individuals who use technology to develop new services. The company said its broader goal is to democratize technology by allowing organizations to access advanced computing tools without the large initial investments and specialized systems that were once required.

Cloud infrastructure has enabled developers to test ideas, learn from failures and build services such as video-streaming and ride-sharing platforms without first establishing their own large-scale computing facilities. Similar technology is now being used in areas closer to daily life, including municipal safety-confirmation systems and the production of sports broadcast footage.

One of the summit’s featured projects was a sports photography selection platform developed by MIXI for FC Tokyo, the J1 League soccer club that became a subsidiary of the technology group in 2022.

MIXI was founded in 1999 and expanded rapidly through its social networking service before diversifying into products including the Monster Strike smartphone game and FamilyAlbum, an application for sharing photographs and videos of children. The group is now applying its digital expertise to sports management, fan engagement and club operations.

After each FC Tokyo match, photographers deliver several thousand to as many as 10,000 images to the club. Public relations staff must quickly identify photographs showing goals, celebrations, individual players, sponsor branding and other important moments for match reports and social media posts.

Supporters expect photographs and reports while interest in the game remains high, but manually reviewing thousands of images placed a heavy burden on a limited number of staff members. Although the club previously used technology that could identify which players appeared in photographs, employees still had to judge the type of play, facial expressions, picture quality and commercial suitability of each image.

The new system uses AI to sort close to 10,000 photographs according to detailed tags and written instructions. Staff can search by player name, type of play, expression and other conditions, allowing them to narrow the pool and select an image suited to a particular article or social media post.

The technology can also screen for factors such as goal celebrations, blurred images and visible sponsor material. This has converted a task that previously depended heavily on the experience and instincts of individual employees into a process that can be performed more consistently by a wider range of staff.

MIXI said AWS technology helped shorten the development period and provides the capacity needed to manage the rapidly expanding volume of image data generated during each match. Testing began late last year, and the platform has been used in official matches this season.

The time required to choose photographs has fallen to about one-third of the previous level, according to the company. The final choice, however, remains with human staff because subjective judgment is still required to decide which image best conveys the atmosphere and importance of a moment.

The system cannot yet reliably respond to highly specific requests, such as identifying a team’s second goal in a high-scoring match. MIXI said that function could become possible by combining the photographs with match data, making it one of the project’s next development challenges.

The company is also considering applying the technology to other sports. MIXI’s group includes a professional basketball team in Chiba, providing a potential next venue for the system, while similar functions could eventually be used in baseball, rugby and other competitions.

The summit also explored how AI could alter employment, personal life and Japan’s position in the global technology industry through a discussion with Anchorstar President Taro Kodama, who helped oversee the early expansion of Yahoo and Facebook in Japan and now supports overseas startups entering the Japanese market.

Kodama argued that AI would not necessarily leave people with nothing to do. Instead, workers and companies with clear goals could use the time saved through automation to pursue additional production, new ideas or personal ambitions.

He compared the shift with earlier technological changes such as the transition from the abacus to the calculator. Although calculations became faster, the arrival of calculators did not eliminate all work. It allowed people to perform existing tasks more efficiently and take on different challenges.

Under that view, a factory that once required a week to produce 100 screws could use automation to complete the work in one day. The result could be four idle days if demand remained permanently fixed, but it could also allow the company to produce more goods or devote time to other goals.

Kodama said people with a strong vision or mission would not become idle because of AI. They could instead use the additional time to move more quickly toward their ambitions.

The discussion also raised the possibility that greater automation could restore time for face-to-face relationships. If work that previously required eight hours plus overtime could be completed in five hours, people might spend more time with families, friends and local communities.

Participants suggested that after spending much of the working day interacting with AI, people could place greater value on gathering in person, talking over meals and building relationships away from digital devices. Technological development could therefore make human conversation and community ties more important rather than less important.

Kodama said optimism would be essential as workers confront concerns about disappearing jobs, changing career opportunities and the education of children in an AI-driven society. Over periods of five, 10 or 20 years, technology could improve living standards if people actively sought ways to turn change into opportunity.

AI and remote work are also altering international business expansion. Kodama said some overseas engineers now move to Japan while continuing to work for startups and customers in cities such as Los Angeles.

These workers are attracted by Japan’s safety, cleanliness, food and orderly social environment, he said. Remote employment allows them to earn income from overseas companies while living in Japan, creating a new form of international mobility that does not require a worker’s residence and employer to be in the same country.

Anchorstar focuses on building partnerships between overseas startups and Japanese companies rather than simply acting as a domestic distributor for foreign products. Kodama said successful market entry depends on finding the first customers, securing local partners, recruiting a team and creating relationships that can shape the direction of both companies.

He said partnerships between Japanese and overseas companies can change businesses and the lives of the people involved. His earlier work at Facebook included establishing relationships with Japanese corporations that helped the social networking service expand in the country.

Kodama also said Japan’s appeal may lie in qualities it has preserved while repeatedly rebuilding after wars, earthquakes and other disasters. Communities have sought to reconstruct safer, more convenient and more livable towns while retaining a sense of cooperation and responsibility for shared spaces.

That history of continuous renewal, he said, may be increasingly valued in a period of global division and rapid technological change. As AI and robotics spread, Japan’s long-standing emphasis on social order, cooperation and care for communities could offer lessons on which human values should remain unchanged.

Source: テレ東BIZ

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