On October 6, forty-eight university presidents from twenty different countries around the world attended the University Presidents' Meeting in Kyoto, Japan. This event is one facet of the Science and Technology in Society forum's Annual Meeting.
The University Presidents' Meeting provided a platform to discuss the theme, "Information Overload? The Impact of Real-Time Technologies on Higher Education." Keio University President Kohei Itoh (Japan) and the University of California President Michael Drake (United States) were co-chairs of the event as well as presenters. After they and two other speakers offered their thoughts, attendees broke into groups to discuss how they, as university presidents, might best handle and approach the accelerating use of AI and other new technologies at their schools. President Itoh also took to the stage as chair of the Koji Omi Memorial Plenary, the main session for the STS forum that honors its founder, Kōji Omi. President Itoh's speech was titled, Lights and Shadows of AI.