Answer ... (a) Healthcare
The fields of application of AI in medicine are numerous and include:
- computer-assisted surgery;
- remote patient monitoring;
- diagnostic assistance; and
- personalised treatments.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan have jointly issued security guidelines on the processing of health data, which may apply to the processing of health data in the context of developing or running medical software that includes AI elements (eg, computer-assisted surgery, remote patient monitoring, diagnostic assistance). However, these provisions are not specific to AI.
(b) Security and defence
The Ministry of Defence announced plans to invest $240 million in the cyber domain in 2020. This includes developing an AI-based system to counter cyber attacks. The system will autonomously detect malicious emails, judge the level of threat using AI and respond against cyber attacks.
The aim is to develop a comprehensive AI system that can detect malevolent emails, respond to cyber attacks in an automated way through machine learning skills, and ultimately neutralise the effect of cyber attacks on public and private sector targets.
(c) Autonomous vehicles
Amendments to the Road Traffic Act and the Automobile Liability Security Act in 2019 have introduced changes to the civil liability of the driver.
Under the amendments, the primary liability for losses caused by a traffic accident is assigned to the operator of the vehicle (eg, the owner of the vehicle or the business owner of a transportation service – not necessarily the driver).
The burden of proof (to disprove negligence) in an accident is shifted to the operator, which will be held liable for damages caused by the accident unless it can successfully prove that:
- it exercised due care;
- the victim or a third party was at fault; and
- the vehicle did not have any defect.
(d) Manufacturing
Japanese manufacturing companies have made attempts to move towards factory automation solutions in order to improve product quality and design, reduce labour costs, minimise the manufacturing cycle and monitor the real-time condition of machines. However, new types of AI-based hardware and software are being adopted in an unregulated area, without clear regulations on workers’ rights, liability of AI software, data privacy or cybersecurity.
(e) Agriculture
There are no dedicated regulations in this sector.
(f) Professional services
There are no dedicated regulations in this sector.
(g) Public sector
There are no dedicated regulations in this sector.
(h) Other
Numerous AI applications have emerged in the legal sphere. Many legal tech firms are using machine learning processes to develop software and applications for tasks such as:
- reviewing contracts;
- translating legal documents; and
- assisting with due diligence.