40% of Japanese companies say they would not use AI

Nikkei Research for Reuters conducted a poll revealing that Japanese companies exhibit varying levels of interest in adopting AI. These companies are worried about worker anxiety and cybersecurity. On the other hand, they strongly support changing the law that says married people have to share the same last name.

Nikkei Research surveyed Reuters, posing a series of questions to 506 companies between July 3 and 12, with approximately 250 firms anonymously responding. Approximately 24% of respondents had used AI in their businesses; 35% intended to; and 41% had no plans. This shows that Japanese businesses have different levels of interest in adopting new technologies.

When asked what their goals were for using AI in a question with multiple answers, 60% said they were trying to deal with a lack of workers, 53% said they wanted to cut labor costs, and 36% said they wanted to speed up research and development.

A manager at a transport company said that “anxiety among employees over possible headcount reduction” was one of the problems with introducing it. The survey showed that other problems include not knowing enough about technology, having to spend a lot of money on capital, and being worried about how reliable it is.

According to the poll, 15% of respondents said they had experienced a cyber attack in the previous year, and 9% said their business partners had also experienced one.

When asked about the damage, 23% of those who had experienced a cyberattack or whose business partners had suffered one said that the attack forced them to temporarily halt operations, and 4% said that information had leaked. When asked what they were doing to improve cybersecurity, 47% said they were outsourcing defense, while 38% said they had experts in-house.

Online attacks have targeted a well-known publisher named Kadokawa in recent months. His case prompted the government to work to improve cybersecurity. Half of the firms surveyed also want to change a law that says married people have to use the same last name. In more than nine out of ten marriages, women take their husbands’ names.

People who are against this practice say it takes away a part of a woman’s identity and makes her deal with a lot of paperwork. The issue got more attention when the Keidanren business lobby asked the government last month to let married people keep their last names.

Poll Results Show Support for Legislative Change

In the poll, 50% of people who answered said they were in favour of this kind of legislative change, while only 11% said they were against it.

“The present system is destroying people’s honour and freedom, especially women’s,” a manager at a machine shop wrote. A person who works at a steel company said that change was “the natural demand of the times.” One manager at a company that makes non-ferrous metals was against it, saying that letting people have different last names could “weaken family bonds.”

When asked how they thought a change in the law would affect their business, 14% said it would boost morale among employees, and 10% said it would make it easier to hire people. However, 56% said they didn’t think it would have any effect.