Key Points Covered in this Report
- Market size and market trends in ethical AI
- Global trends in ethical AI
- Japan’s ethical AI market overview and consumer insights
- Opportunities in the Japanese market
As AI continues to crop up in every corner of society, a range of issues are emerging, from personal data protection to AI malfunctions and misuse. Against this backdrop, efforts are underway to make rules that work for the international community and improve infrastructure. Companies are also beginning to consider the ethics of AI.
Yasuaki Shibata, Research Analyst – Lifestyle, Japan
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Executive summary
- Key points covered in this Report
- Overview and definitions
- Global AI ethics in context
- Global consumer trends in AI ethics
- Japan’s AI ethics in context
- Insights from the Japanese consumer survey
- AI’s spread and evolving technologies forge new relationships with consumers
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Global market overview
- The AI market will continue to steadily expand
- Graph 1: AI market size (revenue) and forecasts ($ bn), 2021-30
- Global AI ethics in context
- Political factors
- Rules on AI progress in various markets
- Developing AI policy in the US shifts course under Trump administration
- Economic factors
- Both public and private sectors are increasing budgets for AI development
- Energy issues due to the development of AI have become impossible to ignore
- Social factors
- Dependency on AI can pose a threat to people’s lives
- Falling in love with ChatGPT seems like a new phenomenon but isn’t entirely new
- Technological factors
- Technological innovation so rapid, it leaves users behind
- Companies are focusing on AI agents
- Explainable AI’s emergence accelerates shift towards AI consumers can trust
- Open AI focuses on evaluating AI vulnerabilities
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Global trends
- Global consumer trends in AI ethics
- More consumers use AI, but how they use it varies
- In many markets, the majority of consumers have used AI
- Everyday use of AI divides consumers
- Graph 2: knowledge and usage of AI, 2025
- Graph 3: activities done using AI once a week or more, 2025
- Chinese consumers expect AI to be used in entertainment in the future
- Graph 4: perception of applications of generative AI, 2024
- Anime-inspired AI image transformation a big hit
- Many calls for AI to be regulated
- Consumers frustrated by regulations lagging behind AI’s rapid evolution
- US consumers believe the government prioritises businesses over consumers on AI
- Graph 5: consumers who believe the US government will likely do more to protect businesses from AI than individual people, by generation, 2025
- In Germany, negative responses such as strengthening AI regulations lead
- Graph 6: attitudes towards AI, 2025
- Initiatives by companies subject to regulations
- High level of concern about AI’s rapid expansion
- AI automation raises unemployment risk for humans
- Consumers’ big concerns include AI-related job loss and autonomous driving
- Graph 7: consumers whose single greatest concern with AI is the potential for job loss, by generation, 2025
- Graph 8: consumers who agree that AI-powered driverless cars are more of a threat than a benefit, by generation, 2024
- AI capable of entry-level tasks is disadvantaging new graduates
- Concern on AI-generated content rapidly becoming more realistic
- Graph 9: consumers who agree that it’s difficult to know whether content is generated by AI or humans, by generation, 2024
- Strong appreciation for human customer support
- Graph 10: consumers who agree that tech tools should always be supplemented by the availability of human support, 2025
- The dilemma of personal data and high precision AI
- Consumers take cautious stance on providing personal information essential for better accuracy
- Concerns about privacy and data misuse become barriers to shopping
- Graph 11: top reasons causing consumers not to use technology when shopping, 2025
- Consumers differ by market on providing data for more accurate AI
- Owkin aims to provide high-precision healthcare while protecting patient data
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Japanese market overview
- Domestic AI market expected to continue to grow
- Japan’s AI ethics in context
- Political factors
- AI Act enacted in Japan
- Moves to promote international cooperative governance of genAI
- Economic factors
- Government advancing AI infrastructure, while private sector actively invests in AI
- Demand for AI skills is increasing
- Social factors
- AI’s spread provokes mounting backlash from creators
- AI-based personnel becoming involved in organisational decision-making
- GenAI’s convenience also opens the door to crime
- Technological factors
- AI cloud platforms boost genAI research
- New standard for evaluating Japanese-language AI ethics, JETHICS
- Companies progress with ethical AI principles
- Notable examples by companies and brands
- AI proofreads packaging labels, for a 30% cut in work time
- Generating consumer profiles with AI to conduct quick, inexpensive surveys
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Japanese consumer insights
- Insights from the Japanese consumer survey
- Insights into broad consumer trends in Japan
- Widespread use of AI in facial recognition and translation, but still only limited use of specialised tools
- Graph 12: perceptions and experiences of AI, 2025
- Japanese consumers prioritise efficiency in AI use
- Graph 13: perceptions about AI technology and services, 2025
- Consumers feel more risk from the actual services themselves than from AI
- Graph 14: benefits and risks perceived by consumers of AI usage in various products/services, 2025
- Misuse and malfunction of AI prioritised over data leaks
- Graph 15: interest in issues related to AI, 2025
- When AI problems occur, prompt disclosure is required
- Graph 16: actions expected from companies on AI-related challenges, 2025
- Humans having final say is preferred solution to AI issues
- Graph 17: ways to resolve concerns about AI usage, 2025
- Younger generation shows more positive attitudes towards AI use
- Younger consumers have extensive experience with AI and frequently use facial recognition and automatic translation
- Graph 18: men’s awareness and usage of AI – men who have used AI tools, by age group, 2025
- Graph 19: women’s awareness and usage of AI – women who have used AI tools, by age group, 2025
- Awareness of ChatGPT is spreading, but actual usage is around half
- Graph 20: men’s awareness and usage of AI – men who know of AI tools but haven’t used them, by age group, 2025
- Graph 21: women’s awareness and usage of AI – women who know of AI tools but haven’t used them, by age group, 2025
- Consumers in their 20s feel AI is able to do anything
- Graph 22: men’s perceptions about AI technology and services, by age group, 2025
- Graph 23: women’s perceptions about AI technology and services, by age group, 2025
- Men highly interested in AI-powered communication: men in 30s see its potential in education
- Graph 24: men’s positive expectations for AI in different fields, by age group, 2025
- Women have positive expectations for AI in communication, healthcare and dining too
- Graph 25: women’s positive expectations for AI in different fields, by age group, 2025
- High anxiety about AI use in social media and financial services
- Graph 26: selected concerns about AI in different fields, by age and gender, 2025
- The older the age group, the more consumers call for human intervention in critical decision-making
- Graph 27: ways to resolve concerns about AI usage – consumers who agree the final decision should be made by humans, by age and gender, 2025
- Interest in AI linked to purchasing power
- Higher household income tends to mean more experience with using AI
- Graph 28: awareness and usage of AI – consumers who have used AI tools, by household income level, 2025
- Positive and negative perceptions of AI are linked to income
- Graph 29: selected perceptions about using AI, by household income, 2025
- The higher the household income, the greater expectations are for AI to be leveraged in a range of fields
- Graph 30: positive attitudes toward AI in products and services, by household income, 2025
- Consumers with household income of JPY10m+ expect companies to adopt AI strategies on many different fronts
- Graph 31: actions consumers expect from companies/brands, by household income, 2025
- Consumers in higher income brackets call for a variety of measures to address their AI concerns
- Graph 32: ways to resolve concerns about AI usage, by household income, 2025
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Opportunities in the Japanese market
- AI’s spread and evolving technologies forge new relationships with consumers
- AI can help handle harassment from customers
- Measures against worsening customer harassment are advancing
- The larger the business, the more cases of customer harassment
- Graph 33: consultations on abusive behaviour by customers over the past three years, by number of employees, 2023
- Trials to keep call centre complaints in a soft tone
- AI has great potential to act as a consultant on matters difficult to discuss with fellow humans
- With the advent of ChatGPT, consumers are rapidly making a habit of asking AI anything and everything
- Consumers who use AI functionality beyond chat are still a minority
- Graph 34: consumers interested in using an AI doctor or AI therapist to improve their health, by generation, 2025
- Japanese consumers’ current level of trust in AI accuracy isn’t high
- AI Hoikushi offers support for everyday parenting concerns
- AGI and AI agents expand possibilities for leveraging AI
- As generative AI spreads, use of AI agents and AGI is on the horizon
- Stressed Millennials have high expectations for AI agents and mental health
- Graph 35: experience with or interest in technology-based solutions for wellness, by generation, 2024
- Although AI agents are emerging, in Japan awareness is low
- Gentle, kind AI and robots to support consumers
- Combining friendly AI and robots to address societal ageing and workforce shortages
- Japanese consumers are more cautious about interacting with AI
- Robot development is moving forward with the government’s Moonshot R&D Program
- General-purpose androids becoming a reality
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APPENDIX
- Consumer survey methodology
- Definition of generations
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