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The government has decided to collaborate with more than 20 firms and research institutions to promote development of artificial intelligence technology to be applied in the medical, manufacturing and other sectors. The public-private initiative involving entities such as the government-backed Riken research institute, Toyota Motor Corp and NEC Corp is aimed at finding technological solutions to labor shortage and aging society issues that Japan is facing. In the medical field, AI technology is expected to be used in diagnosing a patient's symptoms and giving doctors advice on optimal treatment by analyzing the patient's electronic medical record and a huge amount of past similar cases. The government sees the AI sector as one of the pillars of its growth strategy and set up a research and development center for innovative intelligence technologies at Riken in April.