Science for Capital — the future of physical AI in harmony with people

What was discussed

The session discussed how to view machine intelligence and human responsibility so that embodied AI and humans can live together. A framing was presented that moves from the stage of operating a body to the stage of learning through the body and building relationships. Against the current state in which the connection among sensation, action, and environment is weak, an as-yet-unrealized concept of a spinal-reflex AI that mediates between a language model and a machine's body was discussed. Likening AI dwelling in familiar objects to yokai, the design of boundaries, namely what people entrust and what they remain responsible for, was presented as the challenge of coexistence.

About this session

What is harmony between people and robots? Not the physical AI that builds a robot, but people and robots creating together, living together, coming into harmony. Standing on that view, what themes appear? An hour immersed in the leading edge that carries the frontier of physical AI further forward.

Speakers

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  Katsuya Hashizume

  DiscussantBeyond Next Ventures, Inc.　Executive Officer / Partner / Head of Investment Division

  He joined JAFCO (now JAFCO Group) in 2010, where he served as leader of the industry-academia investment group and as lead business promoter for JST START. For more than fifteen years he has worked on building university-originated ventures, accompanying them from the pre-founding seed stage through commercialisation and growth. In 2020 he joined Beyond Next Ventures, where he invests in and supports startups in medical devices and digital health. He became an Executive Officer in August 2021 and a Partner in October 2022, and as Head of the Investment Division he leads the design and execution of investment strategy. His investments include Microwave Chemical (IPO), Biomedical Solutions (M&A) and Bolt Medical (M&A). He surfs, and lives in Shonan. He holds a master's degree from the Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University.

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  Masaki Suwa

  OMRON Corporation　Executive Officer and Head of Strategic R&D, OMRON / President and Representative Director, OMRON SINIC X

  He holds a doctorate in engineering and was born in Kyoto in 1968. He completed his doctoral programme at the Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Ritsumeikan University, in 1997 and joined OMRON Corporation. In 2018 he became President and Representative Director of OMRON SINIC X Corporation, opened that year as OMRON's strategic base for designing the near future, which works on frontier technologies across AI, robotics, IoT and sensing and pursues open innovation through joint research with universities and outside institutions. He became an executive officer and head of OMRON's technology and intellectual property organisation in 2022, and heads Strategic R&D following the reorganisation of March 2026. He has also served on the board of the Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence.