Panasonic, the Japanese electronics giant, recently caused a stir by ‘resurrecting’ its founder, Kōnosuke Matsushita, using artificial intelligence. More than three decades after his disappearance, Matsushita returns in the form of a digital avatar, ready to share his wisdom with new generations. This new application of AI has also caused some unease. In Japan, Kōnosuke Matsushita, has a very special aura. Nicknamed the “God of Management”, he founded Panasonic in 1918. His vision and principles have shaped the company and inspired many entrepreneurs.
Using AI based on the former CEO’s documented life experiences, Panasonic has created an interactive avatar of Matsushita, able to converse and offer advice. To create this avatar, Panasonic exploited a vast collection of Matsushita’s audio recordings and documents. Using advanced natural language processing and speech synthesis techniques, the company was able to recreate the characteristic voice and speech of its founder. The result is an avatar that can answer questions, share anecdotes and offer management advice, faithfully reflecting Matsushita’s thinking. The problem, of course, is that all these precepts were applied in a different era.
What is Panasonic’s objective?
To justify the markdown, Panasonic explains that its sole aim is to strengthen the company’s culture by providing its teams with a tool to pass on the heritage and values that drove the company’s founder. By virtually bringing back its founder, Panasonic is offering its employees the chance to interact directly with the company’s philosophy. It is also a way of showing that, despite technological advances, the fundamental principles of management and leadership remain timeless.
The discomfort caused by this approach stems mainly from the fact that Kōnosuke Matsushita has a special status in Japan. It is therefore disturbing to think that in a world where technological disruptions have multiplied in recent years, causing profound changes in everyday life, a company is returning to the lessons of the past to find its DNA. Others argue, on the contrary, that this initiative underlines the importance of remembering one’s roots while embracing the future.
The major concern centres on the risk of the management team’s future decisions being called into question by AI analysis. The resurrected word of the former boss would then have a higher value given his status. We are very close to a science fiction scenario…
