Japan’s Society 5.0 and the Organizational Vision of ‘Human-Centric’ AI

Abstract

Abstract This article examines the Japanese government’s Society 5.0 initiative and its intersection with surveillance based on artificial intelligence (AI). Announced in 2019, Society 5.0 seeks to leverage AI to address Japan’s aging population and other social issues. I examine government documents on the initiative and an example of a smart city project that implements the Society 5.0 vision and, in doing so, highlight a tension between its architects’ proclaimed commitment to socially responsible, ‘human-centric’ uses of AI and the frequent ambiguity of their invocations of the technology. I argue that this lack of a clear definition of AI forestalls an interrogation of the expansive surveillance infrastructure that the initiative would entail. Examining Society 5.0 and its proposed infrastructure, I reveal a schema of digital surveillance and control best characterized as organizational in nature, as it seeks to monitor and coordinate movements, interactions, and behaviours.