Prof. Tomoyuki (Tomo) Naito
Biography:
Tomo is the Vice President and Professor at Graduate School of Information Technology, Kobe Institute of Computing, Japan. In his over 25 years of professional career, he has been working with clients on digital economy policy acceleration and strategy formulation as well as its implementation for effective development; in particular ICT use leapfrogging practice in developing countries. His professional interests include digital economy, generative AI utilization, distance learning, ICT innovation ecosystem, Internet of Things, FabLabs, Mobile Big Data solution, and other related areas.
Prior to assuming his current position as a graduate school professor, he was Senior Advisor in charge of ICT and Innovation for the development field at Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Previously, he was Program Manager at the World Bank in charge of the Tokyo Development Learning Center, Director of Planning as well as Director of Transportation and ICT at JICA headquarters. He is serving for multiple public advisory committees as designated member including Global Steering Committee of “Internet for All” project at the World Economic Forum (2016-2019), Regional Governing Committee of the Global Development Learning Network Asia-Pacific (2011–2021), Global Strategy Working Group under the Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications of the Government of Japan (2018–2019), and others.
His recent paper “Redefining the Smart City for Sustainable Development” is contained in the Brookings Institution’s book “Breakthrough (2021).” The paper “Role of ICT in education redefined by COVID-19” is contained in the book “SDGs and International Contribution under the Pandemic Era (2021: in Japanese).” Another paper “Indispensable ICT for achieving SDGs” is contained in the book “International Contribution and Realization of SDGs (2019: in Japanese).” He is also a registered 1st class architect in Japan since 1997. He completed doctoral course of international relations, Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies (GSAPS), Waseda University, Japan, in 2008. He holds a Master of Arts in international relations degree from GSAPS, Waseda University, Japan.
Title:
The Impact of the Rise of Generative AI and the Role of Global South.
Abstract:
Released in the fall of 2022, ChatGPT continues to exert a significant influence on the global landscape, not only due to its current processing power but also owing to its immeasurable scalability and development potential. With the proliferation of generative AI, many clerical tasks and procedures traditionally performed by trained individuals are expected to be swiftly replaced by AI. It is becoming increasingly evident that AI will supplant routine clerical work in private companies, guide planning efforts in public institutions based on past precedents, and even encroach upon the expertise of highly specialized occupations. In other words, while this could present an opportunity for AI-utilizing companies to generate substantial profits through enhanced productivity, it also poses a formidable threat of job displacement for regular employees. Acknowledging this, leaders of developed countries initiated formal discussions on the necessity of government intervention and rule-making regarding this issue during the G7 summit held in Hiroshima in May 2023.
Conversely, the debate surrounding the impact of opportunities and the threats posed by the rise of generative AI on developing countries has yet to deepen. For instance, in Sub-saharan African countries, the high-speed internet infrastructure is still in shortage, employment opportunities for young people remain limited in many nations, and the prerequisites for extensive use of generative AI are not necessarily in place. Furthermore, as generative AI progresses in developed countries and regulatory frameworks become more refined, the digital divide between developing and advanced nations is poised to widen.
Given such circumstances, when considering the potential for the future spread and integration of generative AI worldwide, it is crucial to contemplate the implications for the digital economy in the Global South, including least developed countries, and the possible impact of generative AI. At that point, it would be ideal if some of the leading countries within the Global South could standardize policy guidance for the appropriate development and adoption of generative AI for all developing countries in need.
This keynote aims to stimulate ideas on how we should look at the state of the most significant Intelligent Computing and Information Systems such as generative AI. For that purpose, it will also share an updated discussion delivered during the United Nations’ Internet Governance Forum held in Kyoto, Japan in October 2023.
