TOKYO - AI-powered technologies took center stage at this year’s CEATEC, Japan’s premier digital technology exhibition, with more than half of all displays devoted to artificial intelligence.
Exhibitors demonstrated how AI is increasingly woven into daily life, from enhancing convenience and memory to supporting workforce training and skill transfer.
One exhibit featured a service that could recognize people’s faces and whisper their names through an earpiece when users struggled to remember them. When phrases like “Good to see you again” are spoken, a camera embedded in the device captures the person’s image and cross-references it with stored data to identify them — a tool that could transform everyday social interactions.
Other booths explored playful and practical uses of AI. At TDK’s stand, visitors challenged a machine to a game of rock-paper-scissors, with sensors reading their hand movements and the AI responding strategically. Another demonstration involved a robot that detected signs of fatigue and offered coffee, showcasing how AI could anticipate and respond to human needs.
Beyond convenience, AI is also emerging as a powerful tool for education and skill transmission. A system designed to train bartenders, for example, uses sensor-equipped gloves to measure grip strength, shaking speed, and angle when mixing drinks. The AI compares these metrics against data from professional bartenders and provides a score, offering trainees real-time feedback. Developers see broader potential for such technology in manufacturing, where passing down technical know-how from retiring veterans to younger workers has become increasingly difficult.
Experts believe that AI’s societal impact is only beginning. Commentators noted that in the United States, many routine white-collar jobs are already being replaced, lowering employment rates among young people. As one business leader put it, the wage gap between white-collar and essential workers is likely to reverse, since tasks requiring human hands — such as carefully peeling and chopping irregularly shaped vegetables — remain beyond the capabilities of even advanced “physical AI.” Moreover, combining human expertise with AI support could elevate these roles into highly valued, well-paid “advanced essential” professions.
Source: TBS
