GSFS FRONTRUNNERS: Interview with an entrepreneur

The field of artificial intelligence (AI), including Chat GPT, is expanding rapidly. The most advanced AI technology holds great potential for businesses across various industries, although few companies are fully leveraging its benefits.

Taro Kawasaki, an alumnus of the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, recognized the opportunity to offer customized solutions to customers using AI design, as well as supports for practical applications and management. He founded his company, Daedalus, with his classmate at GSFS (Hattori) to realize these solutions. They work to find solutions to issues that businesses have. One of their ongoing projects is joint research into AI for railway infrastructure facility inspection.

As an undergraduate, Kawasaki researched shock waves that are beneficial for designing aerospace planes. Later, he expanded his knowledge into computer graphics and AI in his laboratory, which sparked his interest in combining the two. His research at the GSFS convinced him that deep learning technology has wide-ranging applications and is something society needs. Since he started his business as a side work , he has developed further confidence in this idea.

He also thinks that the knowledge of other fields and experiences of communicating with international students in the dormitory of the GSFS  are supporting his work now. Kawasaki prioritizes finding “customer insights” when communicating with clients. “Accuracy is important in research, but businesses also need cost-effective and user-friendly solutions,” says Kawasaki. “Many companies are not yet ready to adopt cutting-edge technology, so Daedalus supports them in using various AI technologies. Our goal is to make society much more convenient by using AI technology, such as seen in science fiction anime,” he told us, showing passion for his dream.

(Original Japanese text by Yoko Takada)