Yokosuka City, in the Kanagawa prefecture in central Japan, is now using an Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot called ChatGPT to help run its local government, in an effort to improve efficiency and create a better workflow as the population shrinks. The chatbot is designed to help with administrative duties, allowing staff to “answer questions, compose sentences, translate words, and summarise sentences.”
The declining population of Japan has been a growing issue, with leaders warning that “time is running out to procreate,” and Japan is “on the brink of not being able to maintain social functions.” Yokosuka City in particular has a population of 376,171 that will continue to decrease due to natural causes, such as a diminishing number of manufacturing industries, and a lack of tourists to the area.
As a result, the local government decided to turn to ChatGPT to handle routine administrative labor, so that the staff can concentrate on tasks that can only be done by humans. Furthermore, the use of ChatGPT is expected to be “used widely by staff,” and no private or sensitive information will be processed by the chatbot.
ChatGPT is a product of the Tokyo-based AI company, Zozonai Ltd., founded in 2017 by Mari Matsuzaki, a computer engineer and software developer. The company focuses on developing Artificial Intelligence for various fields, such as healthcare, sports, e-commerce, and education. The chatbot was designed to be able to understand and reply to natural language, with accurate and human-like results.
With Yokosuka City as the first public sector to use ChatGPT, the local government said that it hopes the chatbot will be able to assist in promoting “the happiness of citizens.” The AI chatbot is expected to help optimize processes and tasks, making the work easier and faster for the staff as the population growth stagnates in Japan.
