Professor Shoichiro Takehara of the Department of Functional Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, Sophia University, teaches the course "Creating II (Career Development II)," which aims to give students practical learning on specific methods of action to help them build better careers in companies and other organizations once they enter society. This course is based on the PBL (Project Based Learning) method implemented at Harvard Business School and other institutions, and aims to help students acquire initiative and presentation techniques through practice.
On October 10th, FRONTEO President and CEO Masahiro Morimoto gave a lecture titled "Considering the Future of AI and Humanity" at this year's course.

Representative Director and President Masahiro Morimoto giving a lecture

Prior to the lecture, Ms. Taeko Nagayama, an outside director, called on the students to develop their skills for entering society by tackling open-ended problems such as predicting the future from current situation analysis and presenting their team views. She also conveyed the message that she hopes the students will deepen their understanding of AI and its applications through FRONTEO's development over more than 20 years and its current efforts.

In this lecture, Morimoto introduced, with concrete examples, how FRONTEO's in-house developed AI "KIBIT" is being used in real-world situations, and how AI is being put to practical use in drug discovery support, among other areas of expertise.

In particular, he emphasized the importance of the design philosophy of "KIBIT," which uses AI to reproduce people's tacit knowledge and discover unknown relationships from known information, and the "inspiration" that is at its core. Quoting the famous inventor Thomas Edison, he told the students, "This inspiration was born from what is known as serendipity (a chance encounter). KIBIT's approach systematically induces this and can bring about innovation."

Furthermore, Morimoto explained his own thoughts on KIBIT's unique approach, which is different from generative AI that has been attracting attention in recent years, along with his company's efforts. Just as in automobiles, where technology has evolved and developed, sports cars are superior in speed but buses are optimal for transporting large numbers of people, in the world of AI, there is no general-purpose AI that excels in all fields now or in the future. He said, "Both KIBIT and generative AI are AI, but each has its own design philosophy and different areas of expertise. Generative AI cannot do what KIBIT excels at, 'encouraging experts to discover the unknown and supporting hypothesis generation.' On the other hand, KIBIT does not create writing, pictures, or music, which generative AI excels at. Please consider the relationship between AI and humanity from this perspective," and the students listened to the enthusiastic lecture, occasionally nodding deeply.

During the Q&A session, the students asked a wide range of questions about the company's approach to business and the future potential of AI, such as "What were your thoughts behind your decision to start a business?", "What are the most notable advances in KIBIT?", and "How close will AI become to humans?" Morimoto answered each student's questions face-to-face.
Some of the questions were specific, including doubts and conflicts that the students had after having tried to use AI themselves, indicating the students' high level of interest and positive attitude toward AI technology.

In the future, the students will work in groups to consider topics such as "What will the relationship between AI and humanity be in the world 10 years from now?" and "What is needed for serendipity?" and will make their final presentations in January of next year.

Through this course, FRONTEO will continue to provide support so that students who will lead the future will be able to properly understand AI, which is expected to evolve further, and will help them to play an active role on the front lines of a digital society. I'm coming.

Professor Shoichiro Takehara, Department of Functional and Creative Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, Sophia University