Japanese students "don't study if they are not asked … let's put it as mandatory, then Japanese students will catch up," Son told a government conference aimed at fostering innovation. The comments came as Son pointed to the widening gap in GDP and AI-related patents filed in Japan compared to China and the United States. "Japan has lost the past, but may [also] be losing the future," he said. Son said Japan should focus on two areas -- autonomous driving and DNA-centered medicine -- to help combat the pressures of its rapidly aging society, which is seeing a rise in traffic accidents involving elderly drivers and health care costs. "Even today's technology of autonomous driving is better than senior citizens driving on the street," Son said.

English-speaking artificial intelligence (AI) robots will be helping out in some 500 Japanese classrooms from next year as the country seeks to improve its English skills, particularly among children and teachers. The education ministry is planning a pilot project costing around 250 million yen (US$227,000) to improve Japanese students' notoriously weak oral and written English, an official said. "AI robots already on the market have various functions. For example, they can check the pronunciation of each student's English, which is difficult for teachers to do," said the official in charge of international education, who asked not to be named. AI robots "are just one example of the trial and we are planning other measures" such as using tablet apps and having online lessons with native speakers, he said.

The government of Japan is planning to introduce English-speaking Artificial Intelligence (AI) robots in classrooms to help children improve their English speaking skills, considered one of the worst in the world. The Japanese education ministry would be launching a pilot programme to test the effectiveness of the initiative in April 2019, reports Efe news. The initiative will be initially rolled out in 500 schools throughout the country with the aim of fully implementing it in two years, public broadcaster NHK reported Saturday. The programme also includes study apps and online conversation sessions with native English speakers. Japan has proposed improving English skills ahead of the surge in tourists expected during the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

NEW YORK – For a dozen students from Futaba Future High School in Fukushima Prefecture, a recent visit to the United Nations was a chance to share their plans to improve the lives of others by drawing from their catastrophic earthquake and tsunami experiences as a source of strength. Despite overcoming enormous hurdles in the aftermath of the March 11, 2011, disaster that took more than 19,000 lives, the surviving students have moved forward with aspirations of choosing future paths to benefit the global community. "Thanks to all my experiences like getting bullied, joining the drama club and studying at my high school, I think I could grow well," Satsuki Sekine told U.N. diplomats, staff and youth representatives who gathered to hear their presentation on the current situation in Fukushima early this month as part of a scheduled visit while in New York. The 17-year-old explained how drama can be used to portray the challenges of discrimination and conflict "not as an abstract concept but with specific and visual examples." Recounting how the tsunami rendered her home unlivable, she explained how her life in Tomioka as a normal 9-year-old was turned upside down.

The fourth industrial revolution stands out from its predecessors in a critical way: rather than making it easier for humans to use their surroundings more effectively for their own benefit, technology is displacing humans in the workplace. The question is who will benefit now. Automated or otherwise technology-enabled services can increase profit margins for companies, while representing for users cheaper, more convenient or more reliable options than those produced exclusively by humans. But, of course, this comes at a high cost for the humans who previously filled those roles. People all over the world have embraced ride-sharing and transport services such as Uber, to the detriment of traditional taxi drivers. In stock trading, 79 per cent of market transactions are now performed by software, according to Frank Zhang of the Yale School of Management, reflecting the hope that machines will be able to identify patterns more effectively than a human could – a hope that may have contributed to the recent stock market correction.