[NHK E-TV "What is a human being? Introduction to Super AI"] New Experiences of Human-Like AI Assistants "Virtual Human Agents" for Human and Technology

How will "work" be changed by AI?

NHK's "What is a Human Being? Introduction to Super AI" is an intellectual entertainment program on the theme of "AI," which has become a popular topic in newspapers and news reports, and in its forefront, considers the question of what it means to be human. This is an intellectual entertainment program that examines what it means to be human, based on the theme of "AI" and its frontiers.

This popular program has continued to a second series.

Couger, the developer of the Human-like AI assistant "Virtual Human Agent," invited CEO Ishii to appear as a technical guest in the final episode of the series.

The theme was "Work.

The article by Professor Osborn of Oxford University, "In the next 10~20 years, there is a high risk that about 47% of all jobs in the U.S. will be automated," is frequently quoted in the media, and the power phrase "humans will lose their jobs to AI" has become a common sight. Technological development and the future of human work is a subject very close to our own hearts.

The Virtual Human Agent that we are developing may be a visual that easily evokes the idea of replacing humans because of its human-like form. In reality, however, the technological advantages of AI are very different from those of humans. It is obvious that our memory is inferior to that of a smartphone with a data capacity of over 100 GB, and it is also obvious that humans are superior to AI in their ability to make escape decisions based on the situation, unlike a Go AI that continues to play Go even when a fire breaks out.

Thus, the evolution of technology has given us a chance to think, "What is a human being?"

Human evolution and the acquisition of facial expressions and gestures

Hidenori Endo, a specialist in comparative morphology, explained in the program why only humans have been able to evolve so far among living creatures, a story that goes to the reason for the focus on "having facial expressions and gestures" in Virtual Human Agents.

Role as AI in Connecting People

“LUDENS” believes that in the world of M2M (Machine to Machine) and the automation that accompanies it, it is important to have agents that connect humans to technology. As 5G is said to be able to download a 2-hour movie in 3 seconds, the infrastructure of our daily lives is being formed by the volume and speed of data that is beyond our processing capacity.

It is important to be able to interpret and trust the technological world beyond our processing capacity.

▼ NHK Broadcast Details

Broadcast Thursday, March 28, 2019, 10:00-10:49 p.m.

Rebroadcast Monday, April 1, 2019 from 0:45 a.m.

Please check out the preview video here!

(Extra) A photo with the cast and RACHEL! The host, Mr. Tokui from Tutorial, was very funny!

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