Emperor, Empress Attend Science and Technology in Society Forum in Kyoto; Emperor Gives Address on Challenges of AI

The Yomiuri Shimbun

1:00 JST, October 7, 2025

The Emperor and Empress on Sunday attended the annual meeting of the Science and Technology in Society forum held at the Kyoto International Conference Center in Sakyo Ward, Kyoto.

The forum brought together opinion leaders from industry, government and academia, including Nobel Prize-winning scientists, to discuss topics mainly related to artificial intelligence.

The Emperor gave an address in English to the participants at the opening ceremony, in which he stated, “AI is already generating profound innovations across a broad spectrum of fields, including medicine, education, industry, transportation and even the arts and cultural domains.

“At the same time, we are confronted with a host of challenging issues: ethical considerations, the protection of privacy, the impact on employment and need for transparency in AI-driven decision-making, to name but a few. These are matters that require careful, thoughtful deliberation over a wide range of disciplines and perspectives. There is a need for experts in various fields from all over the world to address these urgent issues by creating interdisciplinary networks,” he said.

Hiroshi Komiyama, former president of the University of Tokyo and chairperson of the nonprofit organization STS Forum, which organized the event, stressed that, “if misused, AI could distort values and potentially divide society. It must always remain under human control.”

The three-day forum will run through Tuesday, and more than 1,500 participants from over 80 countries, regions and international organizations are expected to take part.