#Colab Conf: AI Engineer and politician speaks future of Japan

Future of AI is shaping not only in technology, but also in politics. A young provocateur, Anno Takahiro who is Member of the House of Councillors of Japan, speaks on "Future of japan and future of technology, Anno thinks". This post is throwback of event called ColabConf held at December 2025.

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#How Work, Value, and Roles Are Changing

Anno argues that advances in technology are fundamentally changing how people work and where value is created. Traditional job labels matter less; instead, what matters is pursuing a goal and doing whatever is necessary to achieve it. His own career spans entrepreneurship, administration, and AI research, unified by one core axis: using technology to build the future. When solving problems, he believes in learning whatever domain knowledge is required—even medical imaging or radiology—rather than staying within fixed professional boundaries.

#Upgrading Japan’s Political System Through Technology

Anno proposes that Japan has entered an era where its political system itself can be “version-upgraded.” Traditionally, politics has focused on broadcasting—efficiently delivering messages from one person to many. However, with the internet, social media, smartphones, and now AI, the reverse becomes possible: “broad listening.”. Tokyo metropolitan government talks how AI is shaping our society and daily lives here.

Broad listening means systematically collecting, organizing, and understanding large volumes of citizen input. The problem today is not lack of opinions, but that information overload overwhelms decision-makers. With large language models (LLMs), AI can now aggregate and structure diverse voices, making broad listening practically feasible.

#Broad Listening in Practice: A Fast Feedback Cycle

Anno describes a three-step cycle for elections and policymaking:

1. Listen – Gather opinions from the internet, aggregate and visualize them.
2. Refine – Collaboratively improve ideas so they can lead to concrete actions.
3. Communicate – Share refined proposals back to the public.

This cycle should run continuously and rapidly, not just once.

During the Tokyo gubernatorial election, his team used GitHub to accept public input on policy. In just 15 days, they received over 100 pull requests and merged about 85—effectively updating the manifesto dozens of times during the campaign. However, GitHub limited participation to a technical minority.

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#Questions to Anno

The last 10 minutes of session, Anno took a time to take questions from audience. I took some questions from this session and made a note.

#Internet Voting and Democracy

Question: What do you think about online voting system?

Anno is generally positive about online voting and notes that some countries already use it. Technically, it is feasible. His main concern is trust: changing voting methods can fuel conspiracy theories about election fraud. Building public confidence is essential.

He emphasizes that online voting could help:

• People who cannot leave home
• People who are living abroad

He also argues that current voting systems are rarely questioned. With digital voting, it would become easier to experiment with better voting algorithms—such as ranked-choice voting or quadratic voting—which can reduce polarization and encourage more constructive political behavior. From his perspective, digital voting is a necessary step toward improving democracy itself.

#How to Generate Interesting Ideas

Question: How do you come up with unique idea as science fiction writer?

Anno recommends:

• Go to primary sources: Visit events, locations, or people directly instead of relying on secondhand news. Firsthand exposure often reveals realities very different from media narratives.
• Use “weird-person emulators”: Instead of trying to think radically yourself, imagine how an unconventional or brilliant character would think in a crisis. This technique, inspired by science fiction writing, helps generate creative solutions beyond normal thinking patterns.