On January 25, University World News published an article by Keio University Prof. Jiro Kokuryo, entitled, Bridging the AI Divide between Sciences and Humanities. The focus of the article is on the digital divide engendered by the advent of new technologies, more specifically, the ubiquity of artificial intelligence (AI) in the Asia Pacific.

The article recognizes the critical roles that research universities play in overcoming differences and creating effective ways of developing technologies for the good of humanity in the Asia-Pacific region, while emphasizing the importance of an interdisciplinary approach in bridging the digital divisions among people and nations in the region, due to its varying degrees of development, as well as its cultural, religious and political diversity.

“AI for everyone: benefitting from and building trust in the technology”, APRU-Google’s first joint project, serves as the knowledge base of this article. The project itself examplifies the necessity of a multinational interdisciplinary research approach in addressing issues, such as the AI governance, benefits, accessibility, transparency and development. The diverse viewpoints and academic disciplines of the project team members have helped deepen trust between human and new technologies in different Asia-Pacific contexts.

Prof. Kokuryo’s article highlights the need to improve exsiting communication methodologies in order to faciliate collaboration between science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and social science and humanities (SSH); more importantly, to better understand the potential and implications of technologies early on in the developmental stage. Evidence- and logic-based reasonings must come together and actively work towards understanding and collaborating across disciplinary divides.

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