In recent years, AI has begun expanding its role at an astonishing pace, from our everyday lives to the front lines of business. Once confined to science fiction, AI now drives innovation in fields ranging from data analysis and automation to customer experience, becoming essential to improving productivity for businesses and individuals.
This article focuses on how AI is used, explaining what it is, its capabilities, the benefits of using it, practical examples, and the challenges and precautions involved. If you are interested in AI or considering using it in the future, read on.
Contents
What Is AI? 2
AI’s Capabilities: What It Can Do 2
1. Recognition 2
2. Reasoning and Prediction 2
3. Generation 2
4. Execution and Control 2
5. Conversation 3
The Benefits of Using AI 3
1. Greater Efficiency and Productivity 3
2. Lower Costs and Fewer Human Errors 3
3. Better Customer Experiences 3
4. Addressing Labor Shortages 3
Eleven AI Use Cases by Industry and Purpose 4
1. Manufacturing 4
2. Retail 4
3. Finance 4
4. Logistics and Transportation 5
5. Agriculture 5
6. Food Service 6
7. Medicine and Healthcare 6
8. Education 6
9. Infrastructure and the Public Sector 7
10. Everyday Life and Personal Use 7
11. Creative Work and Video Production 7
Challenges and Precautions When Using AI 8
1. Ethical Issues 8
2. Unclear Responsibility 8
3. Copyright Infringement and Information Leaks 8
4. Spreading False Information: Deepfakes 8
Conclusion: Open New Possibilities in Business and Life with AI! 9
What Is AI?
AI stands for artificial intelligence and is generally understood as the artificial reproduction of various forms of human perception and intelligence. However, there is no single fixed definition. Different researchers and fields understand it in different ways.
AI’s Capabilities: What It Can Do
Much like humans, AI can recognize, think about, create, and carry out a variety of things. Its uses are broad and can be divided into five main areas.
1. Recognition
AI’s recognition capability finds patterns and meaning in data, much as people perceive information with their eyes, ears, and other senses. For example, AI can look at an image and recognize a dog, understand what we say, or interpret a written passage. This capability allows it to identify suspicious people in security-camera footage or help a smartphone voice assistant understand our instructions.
2. Reasoning and Prediction
AI’s reasoning and prediction capabilities use past data to predict the future or infer information it has not yet seen. For example, AI can predict the next popular product from past sales, detect small changes in factory machinery that warn of a failure, or recommend products that match our preferences. Like an experienced employee anticipating what will happen next, AI identifies trends in data and provides useful information.
3. Generation
AI’s generative capability goes beyond processing existing information to create entirely new things. It can write new text like an author, draw like an artist, or create music like a composer. Its creativity continues to develop, including generating programming code and automatically creating videos.
4. Execution and Control
AI’s execution and control capabilities move or manage things based on its decisions. For example, a self-driving car follows the road safely using AI decisions, a factory robot assembles products according to AI instructions, and AI optimizes energy consumption. AI can do more than process information: it can directly affect the physical world and help many systems and tasks run more smoothly and safely.
5. Conversation
AI’s conversational capability understands what we say and responds as though we were speaking with another person. Chatbots answer customer questions, smart speakers respond to requests, and AI can interpret emotions to respond appropriately. This allows more natural communication with AI and makes a variety of services easier to use.
The Benefits of Using AI
Introducing AI into companies and organizations offers many benefits, and it is becoming essential in modern business and everyday life. Let’s look at four benefits of using AI.
1. Greater Efficiency and Productivity
AI can automate routine and repetitive tasks, freeing our valuable time for more creative work. It can operate around the clock, every day of the year and in any location. Fast, accurate processing greatly reduces working time and can significantly improve productivity. For example, a Microsoft report states that 70% of users of its Copilot AI assistant reported improved productivity, while 68% reported better work quality.[1]
2. Lower Costs and Fewer Human Errors
AI also helps reduce labor costs and losses caused by human mistakes. Greater efficiency lowers overtime costs, while energy savings can further reduce overall costs. For example, Reflax reportedly introduced generative-AI automated responses in its customer support center, reducing the cost per inquiry from ¥2,000 to ¥1,500 and saving ¥15 million annually.[2]
3. Better Customer Experiences
AI is also a powerful tool for improving customer satisfaction. By analyzing purchase and behavioral histories and recommending individually optimized products, services, or information, it helps customers find exactly what suits them. AI chatbots and speech recognition can also respond to inquiries quickly and accurately, reducing waiting times and improving convenience. Twilio’s State of Customer Engagement 2023 report states that 86% of consumers say personalized services increase their loyalty to a brand.[3]
4. Addressing Labor Shortages
Labor shortages are a serious issue as birth rates decline and populations age. AI automation can offer an effective solution. By taking over simple tasks, AI allows employees to concentrate on more valuable and creative work, which can increase individual motivation and reduce staff turnover. According to an estimate by Mizuho Research & Technologies, AI could reduce working hours by an average of 17.2%, equivalent to adding 11.7 million workers. This would greatly exceed the approximately 8.5 million worker shortage projected for 2035.[4]
Eleven AI Use Cases by Industry and Purpose
AI adoption is advancing rapidly in many areas, including business, healthcare, infrastructure, and everyday life. Here are eleven concrete examples of how it is used.[5]
1. Manufacturing
In manufacturing, AI is mainly used in situations such as these:
- Predictive maintenance:
AI monitors and analyzes real-time data such as equipment vibration, temperature, and electrical current to detect early signs of failure. This enables planned maintenance and prevents unexpected shutdowns. Example: Siemens’ AI predictive-maintenance system.
- Quality control and visual inspection:
Image-recognition AI automatically detects defects such as scratches, dirt, and incorrect shapes. It can identify small defects that people might overlook with high accuracy. Example: Toyota’s visual appearance inspection.
- Robot control and collaborative robots:
AI acts as a robot’s eyes and brain, enabling flexible work and collaboration with people. Image recognition helps robots grasp objects precisely and respond to environmental changes. Example: Denso’s robots equipped with generative AI.
2. Retail
In retail, AI is mainly used in situations such as these:
- Smart customer support:
AI chatbots and virtual assistants automatically respond to customer inquiries about product availability and order histories. Example: Uniqlo’s inventory-optimization AI.
- More efficient and automated store operations:
Cameras, sensors, and AI image recognition eliminate or automate the checkout process. Example: TOUCH TO GO at Takanawa Gateway Station.
- Improved and personalized customer experiences:
AI analyzes customers’ purchasing and browsing histories and interests to recommend the most suitable products to each individual in online and physical stores. Example: Lawson’s facial-recognition product-recommendation system.
3. Finance
In finance, AI is mainly used in situations such as these:
- Fraud detection and risk management:
AI analyzes large volumes of transaction data in real time, identifying unusual transactions and suspicious behavior that differ from normal patterns. This helps prevent credit-card fraud and unauthorized transfers. Example: Mizuho Bank’s fraudulent-transaction detection system.
- Customer service and chatbots:
AI chatbots automatically respond to inquiries such as account-balance checks and transaction histories. Advances in generative AI enable human-like answers to complex questions. Example: Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation’s AI chatbot.
- Asset management and investment strategies:
AI analyzes vast amounts of information, including real-time market data and news, to suggest optimal investment portfolios, predict stock prices, and recommend when to buy or sell. Example: Resona Bank’s asset-management AI.
4. Logistics and Transportation
In logistics and transportation, AI is mainly used in situations such as these:
- Optimized delivery routes:
AI analyzes real-time information such as traffic, weather, roadwork, and cargo volumes to calculate the most efficient delivery routes and order of stops. Example: Yamato Transport’s AI dispatch system.
- Automated and more efficient warehouse management:
AI-equipped automated guided vehicles and autonomous robots independently transport, pick, put away, and retrieve goods inside warehouses. Example: Mitsubishi Logistics’ automated shelf-transport robots.
- Fleet management and safe-driving assistance:
AI analyzes vehicle-camera, sensor, and GPS data to detect and warn about driving behavior in real time. It can also predict vehicle problems and prevent breakdowns. Example: Osaka Senko Transport’s Nauto AI dashcam for businesses.
5. Agriculture
In agriculture, AI is mainly used in situations such as these:
- Precision agriculture and optimized crop management:
Drones, sensors, and AI cameras monitor soil conditions and crop growth in detail. AI analyzes the data to recommend and carry out optimal watering, fertilization, and pest and disease control. Example: NTT East’s AI-equipped cameras.
- Automated harvesting and agricultural robots:
AI robots use image recognition to judge crop ripeness and harvest automatically at the best time. AI also automates work with equipment such as self-driving tractors. Example: John Deere’s fully autonomous AI-equipped tractor.
- Surveying and using abandoned farmland:
AI analyzes satellite and drone images to identify and map abandoned farmland automatically. This supports planning effective measures and considering new uses. Example: OPTiM’s drones.
6. Food Service
In food service, AI is mainly used in situations such as these:
- Serving and cooking-assistance robots:
AI robots handle tasks such as serving food, clearing dishes, and simple cooking assistance. AI recognizes table locations and moves and works autonomously. Example: Osaka Ohsho’s I-Robo cooking robot.
- Smart ordering and automated checkout:
Systems let customers order directly from smartphones and other devices, while AI recommends items based on their previous orders and preferences. Integration with AI facial recognition also makes checkout smoother. Example: Andersen’s fully automated bread-identification checkout using AI image recognition.
- Quality and hygiene management:
AI cameras monitor cooking processes, food freshness, and employee hygiene. AI analyzes environmental data such as the temperature of cooking equipment to detect and warn about abnormalities. Example: Hama Sushi’s AI freshness-management system.
7. Medicine and Healthcare
In medicine and healthcare, AI is mainly used in situations such as these:
- Diagnostic imaging assistance:
AI analyzes X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, and other medical images rapidly and accurately to detect signs of cancer or other illnesses and subtle abnormalities, or to support doctors’ diagnoses. Example: Google’s AI for analyzing mammograms for breast cancer.
- Drug development and discovery:
AI analyzes huge volumes of research papers and genetic data to find new disease targets, design compounds that could become medicines, and simulate development processes. Example: Atomwise’s AtomNet AI drug-discovery platform.
- Elder care and dementia support:
AI monitoring sensors and robots observe older adults’ behavior to detect and warn about falls, wandering, and other unusual events. Conversational robots help maintain cognitive function through interaction. Example: NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS’ AI camera system.
8. Education
In education, AI is mainly used in situations such as these:
- Personalized learning support:
ChatGPT provides individualized advice and automatically generates homework suited to a student’s progress and areas of difficulty. Examples: Gakken and Benesse.
- Language-learning support:
AI supports language development through English speaking practice and pronunciation assessment. Examples: Z-kai and Study Sapuri.
- Automated marking and evaluation:
Automatic marking systems for written English questions reduce teachers’ grading workloads. Examples: Nagase and Yoyogi Seminar.
9. Infrastructure and the Public Sector
In infrastructure and the public sector, AI is mainly used in situations such as these:
- Infrastructure maintenance and inspection:
AI analyzes images and video collected by drones, sensors, and cameras to automatically detect and assess cracks, deterioration, and damage in infrastructure. Example: Central Nippon Expressway’s AI for diagnosing bridge deterioration.
- Disaster prevention and mitigation:
AI analyzes weather data and hazard maps to predict risks such as flooding and landslides. During a disaster, it can quickly assess damage and propose optimal evacuation routes. Example: the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications’ collection of disaster-relief information through AI analysis of social media.
- Urban planning and traffic management:
AI analyzes traffic and pedestrian-flow data to ease congestion, optimize public transport and the placement of urban infrastructure, and support smart cities. Example: East Nippon Expressway’s AI traffic-congestion forecasting using DOCOMO’s Mobile Spatial Statistics.
10. Everyday Life and Personal Use
In everyday life and personal use, AI is mainly used in situations such as these:
- Voice assistants on smartphones and smart speakers:
With Siri, Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, and similar services, voice commands can search for information, play music, set alarms, manage schedules, and control home appliances.
- Smart appliances and smart homes:
AI-equipped appliances and smart-home devices learn users’ routines and preferences and automatically operate in the most suitable way.
- Generative AI tools for text, images, music, and more:
Individuals can easily use AI tools that create new content in forms such as text, images, and audio.
11. Creative Work and Video Production
In creative work and video production, AI is mainly used in situations such as these:
- AI image and video generation:
AI automatically generates images and video from text or images. Some tools can also transform live-action footage into anime-style or 3D animated video. Example: DomoAI’s AI video and image generation.
- Generating scripts, scenarios, and character designs:
AI analyzes trends and popular elements in huge amounts of historical data to propose and generate story plots, character-setting ideas, and sections of dialogue. Some tools generate varied concept art and character designs from text prompts. Examples: NovelAI and Midjourney.
- Automated and more efficient video editing:
AI automatically improves video quality through tasks such as removing unnecessary sections, generating rough cuts, automating color grading, stabilizing footage, reducing noise, removing objects, and changing backgrounds. Example: PowerDirector’s AI video editing.
Challenges and Precautions When Using AI
AI brings major progress and benefits to many areas, but it also involves challenges and precautions. Understanding and addressing them appropriately is important for integrating AI into society safely and ethically. Here are four points to keep in mind when using AI.[6]
1. Ethical Issues
AI learns from the data we provide. If the training data contains bias or reflects existing social inequalities, AI may also make unfair decisions. Examples include AI unfairly treating a particular gender or race in recruitment or facial-recognition systems misidentifying people of certain races.
2. Unclear Responsibility
If AI makes a wrong decision or causes an unexpected accident, who should be responsible: the developer, the operator, or the person using it? Responsibility is an especially sensitive and important issue in areas affecting human life, such as self-driving cars, and health, such as AI medical diagnosis.
3. Copyright Infringement and Information Leaks
AI, particularly generative AI, creates new material after learning from huge quantities of existing data. However, generated content that closely resembles copyrighted training material could infringe copyright. AI also collects and analyzes large amounts of personal information, creating risks of unintended leaks or detailed profiles being created without our knowledge.
4. Spreading False Information: Deepfakes
Sophisticated false information and fake videos produced by AI, known as deepfakes, can cause serious social disruption. When convincing fakes spread, they may circulate rumors or be used for fraud. Using AI requires the ability to distinguish what is true from what is fabricated.
Conclusion: Open New Possibilities in Business and Life with AI!
This article focused on AI use, covering what AI is, what it can do, its benefits, practical examples, and the challenges and precautions involved.
From greater efficiency and productivity to new customer experiences, AI is beginning to create value beyond our imagination in every field. Our daily lives will continue to change substantially as AI develops.
To navigate the years ahead, each of us needs to pay attention to AI’s development and keep actively exploring its potential. Why not take your first step in using AI now and bring your life to a new stage?
References
[1]What Can Copilot’s Earliest Users Teach Us About Generative AI at Work?,https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/copilots-earliest-users-teach-us-about-generative-ai-at-work
[2] Save ¥15 Million Annually with AI Agents! Introducing Generative AI Implementation and Hands-On Training Services to Improve Productivity at Major Companies!, https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000015.000062163.html
[3]Real-time personalization boosts customer lifetime value,https://www.twilio.com/en-us/state-of-customer-engagement/trend-2
[4] Mizuho Research & Technologies, Can AI Be the Key to Solving Labor Shortages?, https://www.mizuho-rt.co.jp/publication/2025/pdf/insight-jp250312.pdf
[5] Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Information and Communications in Japan 2024, Chapter 5: The Spread of Digital Technologies, https://www.soumu.go.jp/johotsusintokei/whitepaper/ja/r06/pdf/n1520000.pdf
[6] Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Information and Communications in Japan 2024, Chapter 4: Challenges of Digital Technologies and Current Responses, https://www.soumu.go.jp/johotsusintokei/whitepaper/ja/r06/pdf/n1410000.pdf
