Microsoft and Japan Collaborate to Use ChatGPT for Admin Tasks

Japan will use ChatGPT for administrative tasks, according to a report that states that it is collaborating with Microsoft. The country is generally showing enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.

Microsoft is working with Japan’s government to deploy the AI tool ChatGPT for administrative tasks per Nikkei reports. The tech giant will offer the government the technology through its data centers in Tokyo.

Microsoft Takes New Steps Into Japan

Microsoft recently installed hardware with high processing power that will support the use of generative AI. These data centers are present in Tokyo and Osaka. The collaboration will also include crafting draft responses to queries by the Japanese parliament.

This marks Microsoft’s first such foray in Asia, and the model in question will be GPT-4. It will also include Meta’s generative AI technology. Microsoft and Meta recently entered into a collaboration on that technology as well.

As AI has been getting more popular, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved new limits on the ability of online brokerages to use AI. Regulating AI has become a key priority now, and the focus seems to be tentatively introducing the technology, whether in the government or commercially.

Japan Is Taking to ChatGPT for Various Purposes

Japan has been known to be keen on ChatGPT and AI technologies, with the government utilizing the chatbot to help with bureaucratic processes in April 2023. The goal was to make its complex governmental regulations easier to comprehend. Officials did state that they weren’t using it for a particularly significant use case, as they did not want to risk the leakage of classified information.

In another instance of Japan using ChatGPT, the Kanagawa prefecture announced that it would use the AI tool to help with administrative tasks such as generating ideas, making editorial corrections, and summarizations.

Japan’s Privacy Watchdog Warned OpenAI

However, Japanese agencies are not entirely gung-ho about ChatGPT. Privacy watchdog the Personal Information Protection Commission released a statement saying it had warned OpenAI not to collect sensitive data from users. It also stated that it would take further action if necessary.

Other governments also have concerns about the use of personal data by ChatGPT. This has become one of the main contentions of the technology, and with rival ChatGPT applications on the rise, it may become something of a roadblock for the technology.