Schools in Japan's Ibaraki city trial tsuzumi 2 for paperwork
The city of Ibaraki and NTT West have begun a trial of a locally run AI system in municipal primary and middle schools. Using the Japanese language model tsuzumi 2, it helps staff find and summarize school documents and draft administrative text. Access controls and local operation address sensitive school records. The partners plan to assess usefulness, safety and staff feedback before the trial ends in March 2027.
Artificial Intelligence··Evening
School staff begin a local AI trial
The city of Ibaraki in Japan’s Osaka region and NTT West began testing an AI application for school administration on October 13. The trial covers selected municipal primary and junior high schools. It uses tsuzumi 2, a Japanese language model developed by the NTT group, to help teachers and other staff work with existing school documents. The partners are measuring a proposed aid to paperwork, not reporting an achieved saving in staff time.[1], [2]
School information is spread across multiple server files, which can make searching, checking details and preparing documents slow. The trial application offers a chat interface for questions, searches and summaries of administrative records, as well as support when staff draft text. Its task is to make existing records easier to use in daily work. Whether its answers prove useful will be assessed through staff use rather than assumed from the launch.[1], [2]
Private operation tests access and confidentiality
The software runs on a graphics processor server in a private, locally operated environment. Schools handle confidential information, so the partners will control access to documents according to each user’s permissions. Local operation is part of the safety test, not proof that every handling risk has been removed. The same trial will assess how usable the application is while those restrictions are in place.[1], [2]
Ibaraki provides the schools where the test will run and coordinates communication with staff. NTT West coordinates the project, develops the AI application and evaluates its effects. The division of work places the model inside an actual school administration setting while keeping assessment with the project partners. The announcement describes a trial of the system and its controls; it does not say it has been adopted across all city schools.[1]
Staff feedback will determine the next step
The project is scheduled to run through March 31, 2027. After staff have used the application, questionnaires and interviews will examine the time taken to find information and prepare documents. The partners also plan to ask how helpful the answers are, whether the interface is easy to operate and whether staff would continue using it. Those measures address the administrative burden that prompted the trial.[1], [2]
The city and NTT West say they will use the findings and teachers’ views to consider safe use of AI in school administration. Their stated aim is to give staff more time to work with children. That aim remains prospective until the trial has yielded measurements and staff feedback. For now, the new development is the start of a bounded school trial with document search, drafting support and local access controls.[1]
