Nearly a quarter of Japanese companies have adopted artificial intelligence (AI) in their businesses, while more than 40% have no plan to make use of the cutting-edge technology, a Reuters survey showed on Thursday.
The survey, conducted for Reuters by Nikkei Research, pitched a range of questions to 506 companies over July 3-12 with roughly 250 firms responding, on condition of anonymity.
About 24% of respondents said they have already introduced AI in their businesses and 35% are planning to do so, while the remaining 41% have no such plans, illustrating varying degrees of embracing the technological innovation in corporate Japan.
Asked for objectives when adopting AI in a question allowing multiple answers, 60% of respondents said they were trying to cope with a shortage of workers, while 53% aimed to cut labour costs and 36% cited acceleration in research and development.
As for hurdles to introduction, a manager at a transportation company cited “anxiety among employees over possible headcount reduction”.
Other obstacles include a lack of technological expertise, substantial capital expenditure and concern about reliability, the survey showed.
The poll also showed 15% of respondents have experienced cyberattacks over the past year and 9% had business partners that suffered cyberattacks during the same period.
Asked about damage, 23% of those that suffered cyberattacks themselves or had business partners that were targets said business was temporarily halted, and 4% said they suffered information leak.
On steps to enhance cybersecurity, 47% of respondents said they were outsourcing defence whereas 38% said they had in-house specialists.
Cyberattack victims in recent months included high-profile publisher Kadokawa (9468.T), opens new tab whose case prompted the government to work towards strengthening cybersecurity measures.
The survey also showed half of firms support changing a law stipulating that spouses must use the same surname. Women take their husband’s in more than 9 out of 10 marriages, a practice opponents said takes away part of a woman’s identity and burdens them with the masses of paperwork needed to make the change.