Visiting Japanese scholar warns AI threatens human dignity in Baku lecture
Maiko Ichihara, a Hitotsubashi University professor, told a lecture at Khazar University in Baku in November 2026 that AI's influence on people's thinking and decisions threatens human dignity, Report.az reported on 3 November 2026.
Artificial intelligence's growing influence over how people think and decide poses "a serious threat" to human dignity, Maiko Ichihara, a professor of international relations at Japan's Hitotsubashi University (Hitotsubashi Daigaku), said at a lecture at Khazar University in Baku in November 2026, Report.az reported on 3 November 2026. Ichihara spoke at an event titled "The Changing Landscape of Global Governance and the Role of Middle Powers," organised by the Embassy of Japan in Azerbaijan.
What she said
- Freedom of choice is one of the foundations of human dignity, and AI's influence on people's thinking and decision-making "could pose a serious threat to this value," Ichihara said, according to Report.az.
- AI, particularly chatbots, "could have a significant impact on people's thinking, decisions and behaviour," she said.
- Regulating large language models, and determining "who controls these systems and for what purposes," are "becoming increasingly important," she said.
- She warned of the risk of using AI "to conduct influence operations and advance the interests of particular groups," and said social-media algorithms that spread emotionally charged content "deepen social polarization, undermine mutual respect between social groups and erode trust between countries," Report.az reported.
During the same visit, Ichihara told journalists that Azerbaijan "has significant potential to carry out an important diplomatic mission" given the Caucasus's importance in current geopolitics, and that "relations between Azerbaijan and Japan are of great importance," Report.az reported separately.
Why it matters
Ichihara's warning adds an outside academic voice to Azerbaijan's AI debate. President Ilham Aliyev's order approving the Artificial Intelligence Strategy of the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2025-2028 sets out to accelerate AI development "by promoting research in the field, enhancing AI-related technologies and management systems, improving infrastructure access, and building a qualified workforce in AI," News.Az reported on 19 March 2025, citing AZERTAC. The order also tasks the State Service for Special Communications and Information Security with analysing information-security risks "in areas where artificial intelligence is applied in state bodies," according to the same report, but the published summary of the order does not mention algorithmic influence on individual decision-making or safeguards for freedom of choice. A guest lecture organised by a foreign embassy carries no regulatory weight, so Ichihara's remarks leave it to Azerbaijani institutions to decide whether governance of large language models' influence on users belongs in a future action plan under the strategy.
