An opportunity, thanks to Adobe to be interviewed by Forbes Japan, August 2026 issue. An interview which covers our thought leadership and approach for enterprises looking at Artificial Intelligence technology deployment in their organization.
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Forbes Japan August 2026:Human Centered AI
Forbes Japan August 2026:Human Centered AI
Let me say it straight. I have a HUGE problem with the phrase “HUMAN IN THE LOOP” or HITL. Frankly, I hate it. I.. I .. dont know how to say this, but the term often smells less like empowering a human, but more like liability insurance as below
“AI will do the main work, but lets just have a human in the loop so we can blame someone if things go wrong”.
Even if it is not that literal, human will make sure that we have a checkbox, just in case. Not very empowering, right? Personally, that HITL is absolutely the wrong mental model for AI.
So, how do I go explaining it? What are the stories I can use to convery my point of view. That question came suddenly when I was being interviewed by the Forbes journalist and I had to fall on some story which could resonate for a Japanese, not only him, but any Japanese reading the article.
Luckily, I could fall back on the story of Doraemon and Nobita. That is what I have spoken about in the article in Forbes. Although I cannot write the complete article, but here is a gist.
Doraemon : Nobita's Personal Augmentation
Doraemon : Nobita's Personal Augmentation
First of all, am not sure if you know Doraemon and Nobita. Doraemon is a blue robotic cat from the future (he has some amazing futuristic gadgets) who comes back in time to help Nobita. Who is Nobita? He is an ordinary, often hapless schoolboy. Cute childhood story, huh?
Nope, do watch a couple episodes about Doraemon and Nobita. Nobita was never just the “human in the loop”. He was the main character or should I say, he was the central theme of the story. Doraemon was the augmentation, he literally expanded what Nobita could do.
Doraemon is Nobita's PERSONAL AUGMENTATION, are we approaching enterprise AI deployments from this perspective? Or are we just looking at efficiencies & throwing human in the loop, for liability sake?
AI and Transparency
AI and Transparency
The people around Nobita can see that Doraemon exists, BUT, Nobita remains the protagonist and decision-maker. Doraemon provides capabilities, he doesn't replace Nobita, whose goals and choices drive the story in FULL TRANSPARENCY. My point is straight and simple.
Nobita was NEVER the “Human In The Loop”. The story talks about human centric world where Nobita had the intent, the problems. Doraemon augmented it, did not replace... I still believe that we should aspitre for a Human In The Driver Seat model
That distinction is what leads me to the idea of Human-centered AI. Nobita-centered. Doraemon-augmented.
Creativity For All : Reimagined Creative Supply Chain
Creativity For All : Reimagined Creative Supply Chain
"Creativity For All" is the world we visualize at Adobe. Just like Nobita and his friends, who all can access Doraemon, we believe in a Creator Centric world whose capabilities are augmented with Firefly ecosystem at every stage of the Creative Supply Chain from ideation, to production to delivery and also understanding content performance. His creative skills and analysis are the focus points which Adobe helps to augment.
Adobe Firefly our AI augments that capability and also democratizes access to any AI model (whether u use Google, Runway, Pika inside Adobe Creative Cloud ecosystem). That too done in a responsible and TRANSPARENT manner where content origination, authenticity is always available to filter out deep fakes. It may not be perfect, but, that is the North Star we strive for. That is what that Forbes article is all about. You can buy it here
Very lucky to do this together with a colleague who always inspires me, Shigeyuki Abe, Adobe's Principal Business Development Manager in Adobe
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