TOKYO: Companies in Japan fall behind those in the United States and Europe in using generative artificial intelligence, a Japanese government white paper showed Friday.

The white paper said that 46.8 percent of companies in Japan use generative AI in their operations, compared with 84.7 percent in the United States and 72.7 percent in Germany.

Japanese companies’ use of generative AI has been limited to taking meeting minutes and creating emails and documents. In contrast, firms in the United States and Europe use the technology in a wider range of operations, including for customer services, the white paper said.

Including companies that use generative AI on a trial basis, the proportion of those using the technology stands at about 70 percent in Japan, lower than over 90 percent in both the United States and Germany.

In Japan, some 70 percent of firms pin hopes on the positive impact of generative AI, such as making operations efficient, while companies are equally concerned about risks, including copyright infringement and data breaches, the white paper said.

The proportion of individuals using generative AI is at 9.1 percent in Japan, lower than 46.3 in the United States and 34.6 percent in Germany.

Still, the white paper pointed to potential demand for generative AI in Japan, saying about 70 percent of people are keen on using the technology in the future to look up things online or to seek health advice.

The white paper called for addressing fake online advertisements spreading inaccurate information or posing as celebrities. One in every four people who saw social media posts featuring unconfirmed information on the Jan. 1 Noto Peninsula earthquake in central Japan had then spread such posts, it said.

JIJI Press