Innovation, Responsibility, and Humanity in the AI Age
Distinguished leaders of the Liberal Democratic Party,
distinguished guests,
ladies and gentlemen,
Before I begin, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Mr. Yasuhide Nakayama, Director of the Global South of the Liberal Democratic Party, an outstanding leader, a pride of Japan, and a great source of pride for the Boston Global Forum, for his friendship, vision, and steadfast support.
I would also like to express my sincere appreciation to Mr. Kenji Wakamiya, Chairman of the LDP Research Commission on Foreign Affairs, for his generous support.
I would further like to express my appreciation to the LDP Global South Cooperation Headquarters, under the leadership of Mr. Koichi Hagiuda, for its important support and leadership.
It is a profound honor for me to speak here today at the headquarters of the Liberal Democratic Party.
This is not only a political institution.
It is a place deeply connected to the modern history of Japan —
to national reconstruction,
to stability,
to responsibility,
and to the long work of serving the Japanese people through times of change and challenge.
Today, Japan stands once again at such a historic moment.
We are entering a new age shaped by artificial intelligence, semiconductors, data, cybersecurity, and strategic competition.
The world is changing quickly.
Economies are being transformed.
Institutions are being tested.
Human life, work, learning, and even truth itself are being reshaped by new technologies.
In such a time, nations will be judged not only by the power of the technologies they create, but by the trust they are able to build —
trust in innovation,
trust in institutions,
trust in democratic governance,
and trust in the future of humanity.
Before I speak further, I would like to speak from the heart about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Prime Minister Abe was not only a great leader of Japan.
He was a statesman with historic vision.
He understood that Japan must never be passive in times of global transformation.
He believed that Japan had both the right and the responsibility to help shape the future of the international order.
He gave Japan confidence.
He gave Japan direction.
He gave Japan a larger mission in the world.
His vision of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific was not only a geopolitical strategy.
It was a moral vision — rooted in freedom, openness, rule of law, partnership, dignity, and responsibility.
At the Boston Global Forum, which I co-founded with Governor Michael Dukakis, we have long regarded Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as one of the defining statesmen of our era.
He gave Japan confidence,
gave the Indo-Pacific a strategic vision,
and gave the democratic world a powerful example of leadership rooted in principle and responsibility.
That is why I founded the Shinzo Abe Initiative —
to honor his enduring legacy
and to continue advancing the values he stood for:
freedom,
openness,
trust,
strategic courage,
and responsibility to future generations.
This initiative reflects both our institutional respect at BGF and my own deep personal admiration for Prime Minister Abe.
That spirit remains deeply relevant today.
At the same time, Japan today is fortunate to be guided by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, whose leadership reflects a strong commitment to national resilience, strategic clarity, and the continuation of Japan’s role as a proactive contributor to the international order.
Under her leadership, Japan is well positioned not only to uphold the legacy of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, but to advance it in the new era shaped by artificial intelligence and global transformation.
Because in the age of artificial intelligence, the world again needs countries that do not simply react to history, but help shape it.
And I believe Japan has a new historic mission in this century.
Not only to develop advanced technology.
Not only to strengthen competitiveness.
Not only to secure national resilience.
But also to help humanity build trust in the age it is entering.
That is why I would like to make a simple but important proposition:
Japan should aim not only to be a leader in AI innovation.
Japan should aim to be a global leader in AI trust.
Because the next great global question will not be only:
Who builds the most powerful AI?
The deeper question will be:
Who helps humanity trust AI?
Who helps institutions use AI responsibly?
Who helps democratic societies preserve truth, dignity, and accountability in an age of synthetic media and autonomous systems?
Who helps create a framework in which innovation and responsibility advance together?
I believe Japan can help lead this effort.
Japan has qualities that the world urgently needs in the AI Age.
Japan represents seriousness.
Japan represents reliability.
Japan represents discipline.
Japan represents quality.
Japan represents long-term responsibility.
Japan represents respect for society and for the human consequences of power.
These are not only admirable cultural virtues.
In the AI Age, they are strategic strengths.
Artificial intelligence will transform industry, government, education, medicine, security, and public life.
It will create new possibilities, but also new risks.
It will bring progress, but also uncertainty.
It will expand human capability, but it may also weaken trust if societies do not act wisely.
If trust weakens, institutions weaken.
If truth weakens, democracy weakens.
If responsibility weakens, technology becomes a source of fear rather than hope.
That is why trust must become one of the great tasks of leadership in our time.
In the AI Age, trust cannot remain only a slogan.
It cannot remain only a wish.
It cannot remain only a noble appeal.
Trust must be built.
Trust must be measured.
Trust must be standardized.
Trust must be implemented.
Trust must become part of institutions and infrastructure.
This is where I believe Japan, together with trusted partners, can make an important and lasting contribution.
The first contribution is AIWS Trust Architecture.
AIWS Trust Architecture is a framework for thinking seriously about trustworthy AI.
It is about principles, standards, criteria, and implementation pathways.
It asks not only what AI can do, but how AI systems, institutions, and ecosystems can become worthy of trust.
It moves us from aspiration to structure.
The second contribution is AIWS Trust Rating, or ATR.
If trust is important, it must also become measurable.
ATR offers a way to evaluate the trustworthiness of AI systems, organizations, and initiatives according to standards such as transparency, safety, fairness, accountability, and responsibility.
In the future, performance alone will not be enough.
Capability alone will not be enough.
Nations and institutions will increasingly need to show that their AI systems deserve confidence.
The third contribution is AIWS Trust Index, or ATX.
ATX can help assess the broader condition of trust across sectors, institutions, and societies.
It can help identify where trust is strong,
where it is fragile,
and where action is needed.
In the AI Age, we will need not only indicators of growth and performance, but also indicators of trust.
And the fourth contribution is AIWS Trust Infrastructure.
This may be the most important contribution of all.
Because trust is not built by speeches alone.
Trust is built through standards.
Through institutions.
Through oversight.
Through education.
Through public understanding.
Through verification.
Through accountability.
Through real implementation in real systems.
Infrastructure is what makes values durable.
Infrastructure is what allows societies to move from promise to practice.
Infrastructure is what helps trust survive beyond rhetoric.
Japan is especially well suited to help shape such an effort.
Because Japan has long experience building systems that people rely on.
Because Japan understands that legitimacy is earned through consistency and responsibility.
Because Japan knows that trust is not created by words alone, but by conduct, performance, duty, and enduring institutions.
This, I believe, is also deeply consistent with the spirit and history of the Liberal Democratic Party.
The LDP has guided Japan through many turning points — reconstruction after war, economic rise, international partnership, social stability, and national resilience.
The LDP understands responsibility over time.
It understands continuity.
It understands that leadership is not only about immediate advantage, but about protecting the foundations of the nation for future generations.
Today, another turning point is before us.
This transition is not only economic.
It is not only technological.
It is civilizational.
AI will change how governments govern.
It will change how citizens receive information.
It will change how trust is formed or weakened.
It will change how power is exercised.
It will change how future generations live.
So the responsibility of leadership becomes greater, not smaller.
We must think not only of the next political cycle, but of the next generation.
Not only of present advantage, but of future legitimacy.
Not only of growth, but of the moral and institutional foundations on which enduring growth depends.
This is why I believe Japan’s historic mission in the AI Age is not only to compete, but to lead.
To lead with innovation.
To lead with standards.
To lead with trust.
To lead with responsibility.
To lead with humanity.
And Japan should not do this alone.
This is also why the policy direction of the LDP Global South Cooperation Headquarters is so meaningful.
Strengthening engagement with the Global South is now recognized as a critically important priority.
Across many countries, there is a deep sense of appreciation for Japan’s longstanding contributions through ODA and many other forms of international cooperation.
These efforts have earned Japan a high level of trust and respect around the world, and this should be recognized as an important national asset.
At the same time, it is equally important to develop this cooperation in ways that create more tangible and mutually beneficial outcomes for all sides.
International cooperation should not only contribute to partner countries, but also generate clear and understandable value for the people of Japan, including its citizens and taxpayers.
In this regard, frameworks that combine contribution with reciprocity — strengthening resilient supply chains, supporting the overseas expansion of Japanese companies, and creating shared economic opportunities — can make Japan’s international engagement even more sustainable and effective.
This would not diminish Japan’s spirit of contribution; rather, it would strengthen that spirit in a more strategic and sustainable way.
It is also highly important to support innovative startups with advanced technologies, regardless of their national origin, in ways that create win-win partnerships between Japan and countries such as Vietnam.
Through such cooperation, we can stimulate both economies, create shared value, and contribute to the growth and prosperity of both nations.
I would greatly welcome the opportunity to deepen cooperation in these areas.
Japan can do this with partners —
with the United States,
with Europe,
with India,
with ASEAN,
with the nations of the Global South,
with democratic and like-minded nations,
with great universities and research institutions,
with cities and civic institutions,
and with all those who understand that the future of AI must be shaped not only by power, but by trust.
In this way, Japan can help build something larger than a national strategy.
Japan can help build a trusted order for humanity in the AI Age.
And such an order must remain firmly anchored in first principles.
Unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force must never be accepted.
The international order must be upheld on the basis of rules, responsibility, and trust.
This principle has long been central to Japan’s diplomacy, and it is just as important in the AI Age.
If we want trustworthy technology, we must also defend a trustworthy international order.
And I believe that in doing so, Japan would honor the deeper legacy of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Prime Minister Abe believed that Japan should think strategically, act with confidence, and contribute to an international order grounded in principle.
He believed that Japan must not stand at the edge of history, but help shape it.
He believed that leadership requires courage, responsibility, and a clear sense of duty to future generations.
In our time, that same spirit can guide Japan once again.
In the age of artificial intelligence, Japan has the opportunity not only to remain a great nation of innovation, but to become a great nation of trust — helping to build a future in which technology serves humanity, strengthens freedom, respects dignity, and upholds responsibility.
In helping shape trust for humanity in the AI Age, Japan would not only serve the future.
It would also extend the legacy of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a new century and a new era of history.
That would be a mission worthy of Japan.
A mission worthy of the Liberal Democratic Party.
And a mission worthy of the memory of a leader who gave Japan a larger vision of its place in the world.
Let me close with this thought.
The future will not belong only to those who create more powerful AI.
The future will belong to those who help humanity trust the age it is entering.
Japan can be one of those leaders.
Japan can help shape AIWS Trust Architecture.
Japan can help advance AIWS Trust Rating.
Japan can help develop AIWS Trust Index.
Japan can help build AIWS Trust Infrastructure with partners.
And in doing so, Japan can give the AI Age what it will most deeply need:
not only innovation,
but trust;
not only power,
but legitimacy;
not only intelligence,
but humanity.
And as Japan does so, the spirit of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will continue to live — not only in memory, but in mission; not only in history, but in the future Japan helps to build.
May Japan lead this new age with wisdom, with courage, and with trust — in a way worthy of its history, worthy of its people, and worthy of the enduring legacy of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Thank you very much.
Nguyễn Anh Tuấn
LDP Headquarter, Tokyo, March 31, 2026
