Komal Sharma Talwar in an exclusive interview with Nikkei Newspaper, Japan

Komal Sharma Talwar, Founder of TT Consultants in an exclusive interview with Nikkei Newspaper Japan.

— How will Generated AI (Artificial Intelligence) affect the economy?

The economic impact will be in the trillions of dollars worldwide. The role of large language modeling (LLM)-related technologies is particularly significant. It can raise the productivity of companies and organizations by automating tasks such as text analysis, creation, and extraction of information. It will reduce work time and costs, and ultimately lead to growth in the gross domestic product (GDP) of countries.

Innovative technologies such as generative AI have never been seen before.” For example, it is said that the U.S. Open AI’s interactive artificial intelligence (AI) “Chat GPT” had more than several million users within a few days of its release. AI-related projects and content by companies are also increasing. As a result, every time there are more examples of adoption, we will enter a cycle of innovation in related technologies.

–The challenges the world is facing with the technological development of AI.

There is concern that certain professions are being threatened by AI. The first important thing is to utilize AI while keeping human beings at the center. It is essential that organizations and companies take responsibility for this.

Another challenge is ensuring security in the use of user data. While there are risks involved in the introduction of AI, the best way for AI to complement humans is to divide its roles, such as leaving monotonous tasks to AI and allowing humans to focus more on tasks that require imagination and strategic decision making. The best way to deal with AI will be to have AI complement humans in such a way.

–For Japanese companies to survive the AI competition.

The share of R&D spending by Japanese companies is about 3% of GDP, which is very high worldwide and a strength of Japan. However, Japan’s share of the world’s patents has dropped to one-third over the past 20 years, and productivity and efficiency are declining. The key to achieving results is to focus on agile development, which involves repeated prototyping and improvement in a short period of time, and to quickly incorporate established technologies.

The role of agile startups will be important, but the growth of domestic startups in Japan is still slower than in the U.S., Canada, and other countries. Therefore, it will be important for Japanese firms to approach advanced overseas firms through collaboration and other means to quickly integrate their knowledge and expertise.

–How should large companies deal with startups?

They should take advantage of their abundant capital to aggressively invest in startups with new technologies and integrate them into their own businesses. It is difficult for large companies to respond quickly to cutting-edge technologies on their own, and start-ups have limited capital. The role that large companies can bring to the table is not small when it comes to spreading cutting-edge technological innovation throughout an industry or economy.