In response to the challenges posed by a rapidly aging society and its associated socio-economic difficulties, the Japanese government has encouraged the adoption of AI and robotics technologies for care. Conspicuous investments in these technologies in Japan underscore the dominance of techno-politics of innovation and the advocacy for the robotization of care practices. Such narratives — disseminated by the Japanese state, industry, media, and academia — often overlook the perspectives of the expected users of these technologies. This paper, rooted in a 14-month-long ethnographic study conducted at robotics labs in Japan and the UK in 2022–2023, examines the performance and ethical implications of technoscientific imaginaries portraying Socially Assistive Robots (SARs) as already reliable, safe, and efficient. It sheds light on the intricate relationship between science, technology, the state, and society, emphasizing their use as instruments of power for state-led national development objectives. Moreover, it exposes how technology is presented, creating an illusion of efficiency while neglecting the necessity of involving society in co-designing and co-producing these technologies. The paper ultimately advocates for responsible innovation, emphasizing in particular the need for user involvement to ensure these technologies are not only more efficient and reliable, but also more accessible, inclusive, and fairer.
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“We choose to go to the Moon,” declares a prominent Japanese roboticist while delivering a keynote at a major robotics conference held in Japan in autumn 2022. The roboticist is citing J.F. Kennedy’s Address at Rice University on the Nation’s Space Effort held 60 years earlier, in 1962. The former US president delivered the address to inspire Americans to support NASA’s mission and promised to put an American astronaut on the Moon before the end of the 1960s, which he eventually managed to do with the Apollo 11 Moon landing in 1969. Similarly, on stage, the Japanese roboticist promises that his group of researchers will deliver “AI robots” soon and that these machines will, he argues, “completely transform society.” The roboticist’s animated keynote is followed by the detailed presentations of his team of researchers appointed to create robots enhanced with AI for physical and cognitive support; in other words, the most advanced, reliable, and efficient SARs ever created. More than 3,000 roboticists are attending this conference in person, visiting Japan from all over the world. For many PhD students I meet at the event, this is their first major in-person conference, also due to the COVID-19 pandemic-related travel restrictions that have been in place globally since early 2020. The event has a packed program and on each day of the conference, the atmosphere at the venue is imbued with enthusiasm and positive energy.
