Cultural Affairs Agency Panel Takes Up AI, Copyright Issues; Members Cite ‘Complex Risks,’ Need to Use Vari

The Yomiuri Shimbun

20:00 JST, September 6, 2023

A Cultural Affairs Agency subcommittee held a hearing with experts regarding copyright issues in relation to generative artificial intelligence on Tuesday.

A subcommittee of the Council for Cultural Affairs, an advisory panel for the agency’s commissioner, has been holding meetings to compile points of discussion on the issues.

Atsushi Okada, a lawyer who is also a member of the government’s AI Strategic Council, pointed out that there could be various approaches for establishing a desirable framework.

“AI often incurs complex risks,” he said. “There are many issues that cannot be fundamentally solved just by applying the Copyright Law.”

Some of the subcommittee’s members agreed with Okada, stressing the need to utilize various laws and guidelines to solve AI-related copyright issues.

A Microsoft Japan official who discussed AI’s history and mechanisms said, “It won’t completely replace human judgment. It’s just a tool to help humans have better access to knowledge.”