Noriko H. Arai

The native form of this personal name is Arai Noriko. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
Noriko H. Arai
新井紀子
Born1962
Tokyo, Japan
EducationHitotsubashi University (Law) University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (B.S. in Mathematics, magna cum laude) Tokyo Institute of Technology (Ph.D.)
Known forTodai Robot Project, Researchmap
Notable workProject to develop AI capable of passing University of Tokyo entrance exams
Scientific career
FieldsMathematical logic, Artificial intelligence
InstitutionsNational Institute of Informatics

Noriko H. Arai (Japanese: 新井紀子, born 1962[1]) is a Japanese researcher in mathematical logic and artificial intelligence,[2] known for her work on a project to develop robots that can pass the entrance examinations for the University of Tokyo.[3] She is a professor in the information and society research division of the National Institute of Informatics.[3][4]

Education and career

Arai was born in Tokyo. She earned a law degree from Hitotsubashi University[2] and then, in 1985, a mathematics degree magna cum laude from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.[2][4] Her doctorate is from the Tokyo Institute of Technology.[2]

She joined the National Institute of Informatics in 2001.[4]

Contributions

Arai's Todai Robot Project aims to build a robot that can pass the entrance examinations for the University of Tokyo (commonly known as Todai) by 2021.[3][5] Arai became director of the project in 2011.[2] At a 2017 TED Talk, she reported that her system could achieve a score better than 80% of the applicants to the university; however, this was still not a passing score. Arai sees the success of the project as evidence that human education should concentrate more on problem solving and creativity, and less on rote learning.[6]

Arai is also the founder of Researchmap, "the largest social network for researchers in Japan".[7] She was one of 15 top artificial intelligence researchers invited by French president Emmanuel Macron to join him in March 2018 for the announcement of a major new French initiative for artificial intelligence research.[8]

References

  1. ^ Birth year from Library of Congress Name Authority File, accessed 2018-10-19
  2. ^ a b c d e "Speaker profile: Noriko H. Arai, Professor, National Institute of Informatics", 20th International Conference for Women in Business, retrieved 2018-10-19
  3. ^ a b c Tsujimura, Tatsuya (March 4, 2014), "Robots challenged to pass Todai examination", Japan Times
  4. ^ a b c "ARAI Noriko", Faculty: Information and Society Research Division, National Institute of Informatics, retrieved 2018-10-19
  5. ^ Fitzpatrick, Michael (December 29, 2013), "Computers Jump to the Head of the Class", The New York Times
  6. ^ Wakefield, Jane (April 26, 2017), Ted 2017: The robot that wants to go to university, BBC News
  7. ^ "Noriko Arai", GS10 Speakers, Gender Summit Asia-Pacific 10, 2017, retrieved 2018-10-19
  8. ^ France's Macron announces 1.5-bln-euro investment in artificial intelligence, Xinhua, March 30, 2018, archived from the original on March 29, 2018

Further reading

  1. ResearchMap profile