Twelfth Global Summit of Research Institute Leaders

On September 30, leaders from 25 public research institutes from around the world attended the Twelfth Global Summit of Research Institute Leaders in Kyoto to discuss “Challenges facing research institutions from potentially disruptive technologies, in particular generative AI.”

Following initial presentations by Dr. Elanor Huntington of CSIRO of Australia, and Dr. Takashi Usuda of AIST in Japan, the participants discussed the effect that generative AI and other technologies are having on their institutions and societies and shared experiences of their own introduction of such technologies. They recognized that “AI will have an increasingly important role in research and research activities and management by providing new tools and technologies,” noted that “generative AI also poses threats and believe that we have a significant role to play in responding to such challenges” and concluded that, “We will continue to work together and share information as appropriate in order to take advantage of the opportunities brought by generative AI, while making every effort to make sure they are trustworthy, reliable, and equitable.”

The Global Summit of Research Institute Leaders is an annual event held in Kyoto in the context of the STS forum. It is co-hosted by RIKEN and AIST, is co-chaired by President Makoto Gonokami of RIKEN and President Iain Stewart of the National Research Council Canada (NRC), and moderated by Stefan Noreen, former Swedish Ambassador to Japan.

Joint statement adopted in RIL 2023

Group photo of main table participants of the 12th RIL