As a special program of STEF 50th anniversary, CTO Kitano will talk about his thoughts and approach toward R&D and which direction Sony group should take in the future R&D activities.

We have invited Professor Milind Tambe, Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science and Director of Center for Research in Computation and Society at Harvard University, who is a world authority on AI for social impact, to discuss how AI can help address society's important issues, with Dr. Kitano, Sony Group's Chief Technology Officer. The session begins with an overview of Professor Tambe's recent activities in public health, particularly in maternal and child healthcare in India, in partnership with a non-profit organization, ARMMAN. It is followed by a dialog between Tambe and Kitano, who engage in a passionate discussion on how AI can contribute to solving social issues, how corporations can contribute, and how meaningful partnerships can be built.

Seven Sony's leading engineers will speak on stage about the significance and thoughts of their work and the latest trends in their respective fields, dividing the company's strengths related to 3D-3R technology into three axes: content creation (input), rendering (processing) and interaction (output). At the panel session, please pay attention to the lively exchange of opinions between engineers and the future prospects of these technologies!

We have invited two world-class experts in AI Ethics to engage in an exciting discussion concerning the current and future status of AI Ethics in research and industry. First, we learn from Natasha Crampton, the Chief Responsible AI Officer at Microsoft, who answers the question, “How do you govern AI?”, and provides insights into the myriad ways in which her team has strengthened ethical AI at Microsoft. Next, Pascale Fung, a Chair Professor at the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), presents her work in natural language processing,"Towards Value Based NLP", and describes both the principles of Responsible AI and the challenges inherent to aligning machine and human values. The session begins with an introduction to AI Ethics and an overview of Sony’s on-going AI Ethics work by Alice Xiang, Global Head of AI Ethics for Sony Group Corporation. It is followed by insights from our two keynote speakers, and concludes with a dialog between Natasha Crampton, Professor Fung, Alice Xiang, and Dr. Hiroaki Kitano, Sony Group’s Chief Technology Officer. The discussion is moderated by Michael Spranger (COO, Sony AI), who guides our panel experts to address the following topics: (1) current issues in AI Ethics, especially as they pertain to modern challenges encountered as organizations and researchers deploy AI technology; (2) the relationship between AI Ethics in research and AI Ethics in industry; and finally, (3) the ideas that will shape the future of AI Ethics. Please join us for this engaging exchange.

Takashima DE, from Sony Pictures Entertainment, will act as a facilitator, introducing the latest examples from both the application and provision of technology for the latest content production, together with Yutaka DE, from Sony Interactive Entertainment, General Manager Kobayashi, from Sony PCL, and General Manager Tanaka, from Sony Group Corporation's R&D Center. The discussion of future prospects, especially in the panel later in the session, is a must-see!

The "wave" motif expresses the dynamics of the evolution of Sony's technology, backed by its half-century of innovation history.

Sony's Distinguished Engineers talk about the new challenges they are tackling by leveraging technology and diversity.