TOKYO: The disappointing taste of supermarket sushi inspired Kazuhiro Shimura to create an artificial intelligence (AI) system that ensures your sashimi is always fresh.

Shimura, the director of the advertising firm Dentsu Group’s Future Creative Center, came up with Tuna Scope, which has now evolved into a smartphone app that employs a deep learning algorithm to crunch through grading data from merchants. Clients can download and use it anywhere, creating “a unified grading standard” for an industry that relies on local know-how, said Shimura. He is also working with Japanese trading company Sojitz Corp to promote this technology.

“That means people can be sure they are getting delicious tuna,” Shimura said.

The highest quality fish, which can each weigh around 300 kilograms, has sold for more than $3 million in past tuna auctions. According to the Organization for the Promotion of Responsible Tuna Fisheries, around 2 million tons of tuna is consumed around the world annually, of which Japan accounts a quarter.

Since the start of coronavirus pandemic, fish merchants from the Maldives, Spain, the United States, Taiwan have contacted Shimura about Tuna Scope because travel curbs mean they can’t visit suppliers to check tuna quality.

At Misaki Megumi, Shingo Ishii, one of the merchant’s buyers, held a smartphone with the app over a tray of tuna, receiving results within a few seconds.

“I think this will become a common tool over the next 10 to 20 years,” said Ishii.

Ishii admitted to having mixed feelings about a technology that could make his job easier, but threatened to make a generational skill obsolete.

“To be frank, I think I can still beat the AI,” he said.

Reuters