Information technology, artificial intelligence, and other advancements are all expected to improve our lives significantly. The world's top ideas and challenges in IT, AI, and other fields were discussed in this roundtable session.

Yoko Ishikura facilitated this inspiring session featuring panelists Hiroshi Ishii of the MIT Media Lab, Makiko Eda of Intel Japan, Fujiyo Ishiguro of Netyear, and Noriko Arai of the National Institute of Informatics. She opened the session with a reminder that a decade ago, we didn't have Facebook or Line so the next decade could bring products and services we can't even imagine today.

Mr. Ishii kicked off the discussion by explaining how today's top tech companies won't survive for another century because their infrastructure will collapse. He shared some of MIT's research projects in which they are attempting to create the future. In one project, they studied nature, specifically substances that adapt to survive. This research inspired the creation of a 3D printer. He spoke of the promise of various technologies, including synthetic biology, as engines for creation in the next decade. Ms. Ishikura agreed, telling the participants to read up on synthetic biology as it will change the whole world.

Ms. Eda said that Moore’s Law (the doubling of processor speeds every two years) has lasted for 50 years, but there will be many challenges in coming future. She talked about technologies that helps to resolve the issues and there would be lots of new business opportunities in discovering needs, and creating applications to exploit them.

Ms. Ishiguro believes that Japan has great opportunities in digital marketing throughout the value chain, especially in creating customized products based on extensive user data. She offered several examples that she has worked on.

Ms. Arai spoke about her project to create an AI machine that can pass the university entrance exams and the progress it has made in public university exams and private university exams in Japan. She explained about dirty AI, which has no intelligence itself, but will have a major impact on the job market. She emphasized the importance of knowing what AI can do best and what man can do best so we can prepare for the future.

Mr. Ishii brought the discussion back to the unknowable future. “Most of today's technology will be in a landfill soon, so we must create a new future” he said. We need quantum leaps. We must think about how we get machines to work for us. What is our role?

“It gets back to what kind of life do we want?” said Ms. Ishikura. In the question & answer portion, a US professor that has taught in Japan commented that students don't participate in class and that has to change. The panel agreed. Ms. Ishikura asked about the role of entrepreneurship. Both Ms. Ishiguro and Ms. Arai shared their beliefs about the role that entrepreneurs will play in the next decade and that many large companies will not survive.
Arai-san said we must remember that “the strong get stronger with new technology and the weak get weaker with new technology, so we have to think about the distribution of wealth. She explained her thoughts on the solution and its impact on society.