“It’s no exaggeration to say that AI is the key technology of our time. We’re now at a crossroads on how we can incorporate it to drive growth across industries.”
So remarked Junichi Miyakawa, President & CEO of SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) during his keynote presentation at SoftBank World, SoftBank's largest event for enterprise customers, held in Tokyo on October 3, 2024. Over the course of his talk aimed at business leaders, Miyakawa discussed AI usage at companies, and SoftBank’s own AI initiatives and plans to build next-generation social infrastructure for the AI era.
Learning the lessons of history
At the beginning of his presentation, Miyakawa looked back to the 19th century to highlight the risks of being a laggard when it comes to adopting new technologies, citing the early stages of the British automobile industry as an example.
He noted that at the time Britain was the center of the world when it came to trade, capital and territory. However, the development of its automotive industry was hampered for approximately 30 years by the “red flag traffic laws” that required a motor vehicle to be led by a pedestrian waving a red flag to warn bystanders. These regulations were put into force to protect jobs in the stagecoach and railroad industries. While Britain led the Industrial Revolution, this policy error impeded the development of its automotive industry, Miyakawa explained.
Reluctance to use AI could impact competitiveness
Miyakawa said similarities can be found with modern day attitudes toward adopting AI, with some companies showing reluctance to use it. Reflecting on his SoftBank World keynote in the previous year, where he said the Singularity – the point at which artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence – may arrive by 2025, he observed that AI may have already reached that point.
“Within a few years we may reach AGI, which is 10 times the intelligence of humanity, and within 10 years we may even realize ASI, which is 10,000 times the intelligence of humankind,” he said. “If AI continues to evolve at this speed, we’ll enter a world where humans will no longer be capable of measuring intelligence with known methods like IQ tests.”
Seeing AI’s potential, companies around the world are now beginning to proactively use AI, he noted. “The more advanced companies are in AI, the more they can expect AI to be a driving force for creating value.”
Use of AI a key to business competitiveness
Miyakawa went into more detail on how AI can be effectively utilized in the workplace.
“By making good use of AI, new opportunities will be created to expand individual capabilities and perform new tasks. In other words, the pro-active use of AI can create new value by expanding a company's business domains,” he said. “How many AI-skilled employees a company has will directly impact its competitiveness in the future. I believe that the ability of managers to channel new AI resources will separate the winners from the losers.”
He stated his view that it is crucial for managers to decide how they can take advantage of AI and actively look for ways to incorporate it into their businesses.
Accelerating initiatives to support a society that coexists with AI
Miyakawa then described some of SoftBank's initiatives to create new value through the use of AI, including efforts to develop:
- Call centers with no waiting times
- Financial services that eliminate fraud
- Automated drafting of briefing materials for business meetings
He emphasized that these efforts are being realized through employees’ active use of AI.
In the last part of his keynote, he explained how SoftBank is evolving its communication infrastructure to suit the needs of the AI era.
“We’re making preparations to enable a society that coexists with AI,” he said. ”We’re building social infrastructure in Japan, which includes revamping our mobile networks to facilitate AI-driven traffic, constructing AI data centers, as well as securing the necessary power generation facilities. I want to build infrastructure for Japan that we can recommend to everybody with confidence.”
(Posted on October 10, 2024)
by SoftBank News Editors
SoftBank World 2024 Official Site
Junichi Miyakawa’s keynote presentation and other select presentations can be viewed in English at the official SoftBank World 2024 website until November 8, 2024. Registration is required (no charge).
