Hiroshima City to permanently install devices for simulated dialogue with A-bomb survivors using AI in FY 2025
Jun. 5, 2024
<div style="font-size:106%;font-weight:bold;">Prerecorded video played back based on analysis of user questionsdiv>
by Keiichi Nobira, Staff Writer
It was learned on June 4 the City of Hiroshima will develop a system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to enable users to engage in simulated dialogue with A-bomb survivors on a screen. The city plans to place the devices at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for Atomic Bomb Victims, both in the city’s Naka Ward, as well as occasionally making them available at schools. As A-bomb survivors are aging, the device will be regarded as a tool for conveying the memory of the fateful day.
According to sources, the device will use AI to instantly analyze the questions posed by users and select and play back appropriate answers from a variety of video interviews with A-bomb survivors that have been filmed in advance. A total of five units will be made for Japanese and English languages.
Five A-bomb survivors appointed by the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation in the city’s Naka Ward to communicate their A-bomb experiences will be asked to cooperate. The selection of an operator and interviews will be carried out this fiscal year. The devices are expected to be completed and put into use next fiscal year. In order to secure the budget in advance, the city government will include a 68-million-yen act to assume debts in the supplementary budget bill for the current fiscal year’s general account, which will be submitted to the regular session of the city council scheduled to open on June 18.
The average age of A-bomb survivors is now over 85, and the time available for them to directly share their experiences with the public is limited. In its initial general account budget for this fiscal year, the city government has also allocated funds to study the creation of a system in which AI retrieves existing materials such as A-bomb accounts. The city plans to launch the system in fiscal 2029 or later.
(Originally published on June 5, 2024)
by Keiichi Nobira, Staff Writer
It was learned on June 4 the City of Hiroshima will develop a system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to enable users to engage in simulated dialogue with A-bomb survivors on a screen. The city plans to place the devices at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for Atomic Bomb Victims, both in the city’s Naka Ward, as well as occasionally making them available at schools. As A-bomb survivors are aging, the device will be regarded as a tool for conveying the memory of the fateful day.
According to sources, the device will use AI to instantly analyze the questions posed by users and select and play back appropriate answers from a variety of video interviews with A-bomb survivors that have been filmed in advance. A total of five units will be made for Japanese and English languages.
Five A-bomb survivors appointed by the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation in the city’s Naka Ward to communicate their A-bomb experiences will be asked to cooperate. The selection of an operator and interviews will be carried out this fiscal year. The devices are expected to be completed and put into use next fiscal year. In order to secure the budget in advance, the city government will include a 68-million-yen act to assume debts in the supplementary budget bill for the current fiscal year’s general account, which will be submitted to the regular session of the city council scheduled to open on June 18.
The average age of A-bomb survivors is now over 85, and the time available for them to directly share their experiences with the public is limited. In its initial general account budget for this fiscal year, the city government has also allocated funds to study the creation of a system in which AI retrieves existing materials such as A-bomb accounts. The city plans to launch the system in fiscal 2029 or later.
(Originally published on June 5, 2024)
