April 30, 2026
Tokyo – On the second day of “SusHi Tech Tokyo 2026,” an event gathering domestic and international startups held in Koto Ward, Tokyo on Tuesday, experts discussed the coexistence of AI and humans.
The talk session that day featured Professor Yutaka Matsuo of the University of Tokyo, a leading expert in AI research, and Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro of Osaka University, a robotics engineer known for his android research.
Mr. Matsuo participated in a session on the theme of vision for university-based ventures.
“Sooner or later, we will have versatile AI with human-like intelligence,” he said, adding that such AI should be used in ways that are beneficial to society.
To date, 42 startups have been born from Matsuo’s laboratory.
“University startups will fundamentally change society,” he says. “I want to start up 100 companies a year.”
Mr. Ishiguro spoke at a session titled “AI and robots that understand people will change the future of hospitality.”
“At the moment, it is still difficult for AI to empathize with others,” he says. “In the future, there is a possibility that something with human-like emotions will be born.”
Regarding the division of roles between robots and humans, he said, “If robots appear in cities and repeat experiments, we will begin to see the superiority of humans and robots.”
