The Foreign Ministry has introduced a system that utilizes artificial intelligence to collect and analyze information posted on social media in the event of a terrorist attack or disaster overseas. The system quickly ascertains the location of the occurrence and the damage incurred, then quickly conveys the accurate information to Japanese nationals abroad.
This private-sector system uses AI to collect posts from sites such as Twitter and Facebook, extract relevant information through keywords, and analyze it along with posted photos and videos. The system has the advantage of being able to gain information during the early stages of an incident that occurs far from embassies and other overseas diplomatic establishments.
Although the content of the posts is fragmentary and may not have gone through accuracy confirmation, it can be used as an opportunity for embassy staff to visit the site of the incident and contact the local government in order to gather more detailed and accurate information.
According to the Foreign Ministry, this system was used to send alerts to Japanese nationals abroad on the spreading protests over the death of a black man in the United States.
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