2026-08-13 09:00:21

Japan is struggling to turn its enthusiasm for artificial intelligence into widespread workplace use – despite an ageing population, severe labour shortages and longstanding pressure to improve productivity.

The country has identified AI as one potential answer to those problems and its government wants Japan to become a global leader in developing and using the technology.

Yet an OECD report published in November found only 8.4 per cent of Japanese employees said they used AI at work, while 6.4 per cent used generative AI – figures that highlight the gap between national ambitions and everyday adoption.

Austin Xu, co-founder of US start-up Kuse AI, which has established an operation in Japan, told the BBC: “There are organisations where process and consensus culture genuinely slow things down. Where tolerance for AI mistakes is close to zero, especially in anything client facing. Some would rather leave a role unfilled than let a machine handle it.”

Austin added companies in the US were increasingly prepared to give AI systems greater responsibility rather than waiting for technology to become error-free.

He said: “In the US, AI colleagues enter as helpers and gradually become part of the workflow. The attitude (of US bosses) is often – let it try, then correct it.”

Kuse describes its technology as an AI workspace capable of handling workflows and producing documents, presentations and spreadsheets, with tasks set using natural-language instructions.

The company has also experimented extensively with autonomous AI workers.

The OECD found significant differences between industries. Information and communications had the highest proportion of workers using AI at 22.9 per cent, while the accommodation, eating and drinking services sector stood at 4.1 per cent.

Workers in medical, healthcare and welfare jobs were also less likely to use AI.

Japan’s government has acknowledged the need to accelerate adoption.

The country has pursued legislation designed to encourage AI development while favouring a comparatively light-touch regulatory approach.

The government has said it wants to make Japan “the world’s most AI-friendly country” for the development and use of the technology.

The pledge formed part of its wider approach to balancing innovation with measures addressing the risks created by rapidly developing AI systems.

The OECD said Japan’s demographic pressures made increasing productivity particularly important.

Its report found AI could help address labour shortages, complement workers’ existing skills and support decision-making, although it said training and access would have to improve if those benefits were to spread through the workforce.

Skills remain one of the biggest obstacles.

The OECD found 62.4 per cent of Japanese companies identifying barriers to adoption cited a shortage of AI-related talent in 2023, while 47 per cent said AI was not well understood within their organisation. Another 41.9 per cent expressed uncertainty over whether introducing AI would deliver the expected benefits.

Yasushi Ogasawara, an expert on Japan’s social system and technology at Meiji University, told the BBC: “Although the Japanese like playing with gadgets such as smartphones, digital literacy is low here.”

Businesses also face the problem of ageing computer infrastructure, while Japan has long been warned about a looming shortage of hundreds of thousands of IT professionals.

Yasushi said the pressure to protect employment also affected the speed at which companies were prepared to automate work.

He said: “The government is talking about AI, re-skilling, digital skills, but in reality, it is difficult to adapt human resources to digital skills because the top priority is to maintain full employment.”

Some employers are beginning to respond by prioritising AI literacy when recruiting graduates.

Uta Yamaguchi, who joined Japanese trading company Kanematsu in April, said AI was already incorporated into her working day.

She said: “I use AI quite often at work. Many of my colleagues use it a lot. For writing emails for my boss, summarising complicated documents, meeting recording and summarising.”

The OECD found the divide was not simply between companies using AI and those that were not. Even inside businesses classed as AI adopters, significant numbers of employees reported having no interaction with the technology, suggesting its use can remain concentrated among relatively small groups of workers.

Older employees, non-regular workers, people without university degrees and workers at smaller companies were among those less likely to use AI, according to the OECD.

The organisation said Japan needed to expand training and ensure workers were consulted as companies introduced the technology.

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