This week’s issue will be the last in 2025, so I would like to look back on the past year.
The ICT industry in 2025 will be completely focused on AI, and the momentum for AI has further accelerated over the past year.
Although the topic of generative AI continues to be popular, 2025 was characterized by a spurt in the movement to further advance generative AI. For example, AI agents that autonomously judge situations and repeat planning, execution, and learning have attracted attention. Efforts to automate tasks by combining multiple AI agents also gained momentum. Furthermore, physical AI, which increases autonomy by incorporating AI into actual physical objects such as robots and self-driving cars, is also gaining attention.
A need that has emerged as a result of advances in AI is the automation of business operations. AI is developing in response to the needs of business operators who want to provide conventional services without human intervention, or who want to provide higher quality services than conventional services.
As the labor shortage becomes more serious year by year, the use of AI will become more serious year by year. Next year, we may see even more concrete examples of implementation, and we may even see some surprising success stories.
Personally, I think this is a very good trend. Particularly in a situation like Japan, where labor shortages due to population decline are having a serious impact on social and business activities, rapid progress in AI can be said to be inevitable.
On the other hand, AI is a double-edged sword. If used incorrectly, it can cause great confusion. Personally, I have no intention of praising AI with all my hands; rather, I am constantly staring at the shadow side of AI. Despite this, I am aware that the way to win in the future is to take security into consideration and utilize it effectively as a tool for civilization.
By the way, the paper is planning to start a series related to AI next year. After understanding the merits and demerits of AI, its light and shadow, I would like to freely draw the outline of the bright yet frightening future that AI will relentlessly open up. (Kei Kitajima)

※Translating Japanese articles into English with AI