Over 40% Japanese firms don't want AI fearing worker anxiety, reveals survey

Nearly a quarter of Japanese companies have adopted AI in their businesses and 41 per cent are not willing to use AI,  a survey has revealed.

The survey was conducted by Nikkei Research for Reuters, and pitched various questions to 506 companies over July 3-12 and roughly 250 companies replied on the condition of anonymity.

According to the survey, about 24 per cent of the firms are already using AI in their businesses, 35 per cent are planning to introduce AI and 41 per cent do not want to use AI.

When asked for objectives in adopting AI in a question, 60 per cent responded that they wanted to cope with worker shortages, while 52 per cent wanted to cut labour costs and 36 per cent cited acceleration in research and development.

For the reason for not using AI, a manager at a transportation company said, "There is anxiety among employees over possible headcount reduction." The other reasons include a lack of technological expertise, substantial capital expenditure, and concern about reliability.

The survey shows 15 per cent of respondents faced cyberattacks over the past year and 9 per cent have business partners who faced cyberattacks in the same period. On steps to enhance cybersecurity, 47 per cent of respondents outsourced defence whereas 38 per cent had in-house specialists.

The survey also showed half of the firms wanted spouses to use the same surname.

Women take their husbands' names in around 9 out of 10 marriages, which, according to some, take away part of a woman's identity and burdens them with the masses of paperwork that needs to be changed.

The issue gained attention when the Keidanren business lobby asked the government to let married individuals keep their surnames. As per the survey, 50 per cent of respondents support the law while 11 per cent oppose it.

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