38th Annual Academic Conference

2024. 5. 25

(From the right are IOP Commissioned Research Fellow Prof. Norihiko Shinomiya, Teikyo University Professor Yo Hamada, Jissen Women’s University Professor Junichiro Inutsuka, IOP Director Mr. Ryohei Tanaka, IOP Senior Research Fellow Prof. Shuichi Yamamoto, and symposium MC and IOP Commissioned Research Fellow Mr. Eiichi Tsutaki)

(The symposium was live-streamed on YouTube and was attended by IOP research fellows from Japan and abroad)

The 38th Annual Academic Conference of the Institute of Oriental Philosophy (IOP) was held online, on May 25 and 26. The conference provides the opportunity for IOP domestic and overseas research fellows to share their research on the Lotus Sutra and other topics, including inter-religious and inter-civilizational dialogue, peace and human rights, environmental issues, and so on. Participants presented research on each of their respective areas of expertise.

In conjunction with the conference, the symposium titled ‘Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Faith, Religion, and Thought’, was held online on the first day (May 25, 2024) (** the content of the symposium will be published in the Toyo Gakujutsu Kenkyu in November 2024, and in The Journal of Oriental Studies in English in February 2025).

How should we engage with Artificial Intelligence (AI), a technology that seems to have surpassed human intelligence and has begun to pose various challenges in our contemporary society? In light of this question, the symposium focused on the theme of ‘Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Faith, Religion, and Thought’. In addition, this year, 2024, marks 30 years since the publication of Science and Religion, a dialogue between Daisaku Ikeda, founder of the IOP, and theoretical physicist Dr. Anatoly Logunov. The symposium sought to broaden discussion to include questions of science and religion, as well as faith and reason. Prof. Junichiro Inutsuka (Jissen Women’s University) and Prof. Yo Hamada (Teikyo University) were invited to speak at the symposium. In addition, Prof. Shuichi Yamamoto (IOP Senior Research Fellow) and Prof. Norihiko Shinomiya (IOP Commissioned Research Fellow) gave their presentations.

The presentations were followed by a panel discussion among the four speakers and a Q&A session.