In the "Interim Proposal on the 7th Science and Technology Innovation Basic Plan" published by the Liberal Democratic Party's Science and Technology Innovation Strategy Research Committee, AI-driven science was highlighted as one of the 12 major proposals. In response, the AI Robot-Driven Science Initiative has issued a comment through the Science Media Centre of Japan.
For details, please visit:
https://smc-japan.org/?p=4748
*This link opens the comment page on the Science Media Centre website
Full Comment by Koichi Takahashi, Co-Representative of AI Robot-Driven Science Initiative
Using rapidly developing AI for the dramatic innovation of scientific and technological research is called AI for Science. Taking this concept further, we arrive at so-called AI-driven science, where AI and robots autonomously conduct research. In this proposal, these concepts are described as "game changers that can fundamentally transform the way research is conducted" and stated that they "must be strategically promoted with a sense of speed and strong determination." This is a correct recognition aligned with international trends in scientific research as the direction Japan must pursue, and it is highly commendable.
In Japan, recent developments include the AI Robot-Driven Science Initiative, which aims to provide a gathering place for industry, government, and academia to promote this field, as well as new movements such as RIKEN establishing a new organization. However, to gain international competitiveness with the new methodology of AI robot-driven science requires massive investment and a major shift in thinking. In Japan, researchers have been advocating the importance of this field since the 2010s, and while thinking has matured relatively early even by international standards, full-scale investment from the government and companies has yet to come. In this sense, it is hoped that this proposal will lead to concrete inclusion in the national basic plan.
In the AI field, emerging companies such as OpenAI and GAFA are making massive investments in the trillions of yen and leading the way. On the other hand, in experimental science, the concept of directly generating data through robotic experiments is important. Japan has the world share in materials industry, growth in the bio industry, automation systems cultivated through production technology, and a foundation in the robotics industry, and development through the interaction of these with the academic world is expected. As a challenge, once a trend emerges where research productivity increases through the use of AI robots, capital will flow toward automation, potentially causing temporary friction in traditional research organizations centered on professional researchers. As stated in the proposal, this is a "historic turning point," and it will be necessary to fundamentally reconsider the nature of research organizations and methods of human resource development. Furthermore, in the AI field, five years is an extremely long time, with innovations occurring on a weekly basis. The coexistence of large-scale investment and rapid decision-making is a matter of life and death. For this reason, it seems that the government needs to explore different approaches from the past, such as funding supply, human resource supply, and ecosystem expansion, rather than direct government-run projects that tend to lead to rigid objectives and micromanagement.