CURRICULUM VITAE
DESCRIPTION
Akihico Mori (Akihiko Mori)
Freelance Science Journalist, Art Director, and Brand Strategist for Science
A multidisciplinary science journalist, Akihico Mori explores how technological systems reshape or redefine what it means to be human.
Since 2015, he has written for WIRED Japan as an Official Correspondent, while also authoring and co-authoring several books. Through reporting from leading research laboratories around the world, he has examined the ethical and societal implications of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology, quantum technologies, media arts, and science communication.
His perspective was shaped by postgraduate study in media studies at University of the Arts London, where he examined how algorithmic bias, surveillance capitalism, and platform capitalism shape everyday life, often beyond conscious awareness. He approached media theory not only as a mode of analysis, but also as a critical practice for investigating how technological systems structure perception, behaviour, and public discourse.
He developed this inquiry through his major project, “Science Journalism in the Infodemic related to COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020, its Challenges and Evolution.” Through interviews with science journalists at the BBC in the UK, WIRED in the US, and local media in Italy, he investigated why influential falsehoods can spread more powerfully than accurate information, and how journalism has responded to misinformation, uncertainty, and the erosion of public trust.
Alongside his journalistic career, he works as a Brand Strategist for Science, integrating practical experience in science and technology journalism with academic insights from media studies. His work focuses on branding that takes into account the social reception of frontier science and emerging technologies. He is currently involved with Yaqumo, a quantum computing company, where he leads strategic brand journalism initiatives.
EDUCATION
KANSAI GAIDAI UNIVERSITY
BA in Spanish
2003 - 2007 | JP
UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS LONDON (UAL) | London College of Communication
MA Media, Communications and Critical Practice | Awarded with Distinction
Major project : Science Journalism in The Infodemic related to COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020, its Challenges and Evolution
2019 - 2021 | UK
WORK EXPERIENCE
Freelance
Film critic (Documentary)
2006 - 2009 | JP
Freelance
Business Journalist (Startup)
2009 - 2014 | JP
Freelance
Science Journalist - Educator
2014 - present | JP
Consultant and Art Director
FOUNDER
2021 - present | JP
Waseda University | www.waseda.jp/top/en/
Research Assistant
2021 - present | JP
Salzburg Global Seminar | www.salzburgglobal.org
Fellow
2024 - present | AUT
EXIBITION
Quantum Art Festival Quantum Art Festival 2/4
ARTIFICIAL ADVISORY | https://www.mojimoji.co/artificialadvisory-en
2023 | JP
Speech and LECTURE
Kobe College | www.kobe-c.ac.jp
Part-time lecturer for Professional Science Writing / Reporting
2020 - 2022 | JP
The Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo | https://www.rcast.u-tokyo.ac.jp
ARTIFICIAL ADVISORY presented at EAJ Second Symposium: "Generative AI and Ethics" ~ What is the Essence of Science and Technology in Our Future?
2023 | JP
Hokkaido University | costep.open-ed.hokudai.ac.jp
ARTIFICIAL ADVISORY presented at CoSTEP
2023 | JP
Salzburg Global Seminar | www.salzburgglobal.org
ARTIFICIAL ADVISORY presented at Salzburg Global Seminar
2024 | AUT
Graduate School of Journalism, University of California, Berkeley | journalism.berkeley.edu
ARTIFICIAL ADVISORY presented at AI/Journalism Hackathon at UC Berkeley: Harnessing AI to Enhance Trust and Deepen Engagement in Local Communities
2024 | US
PUBLICATION AND PRESS
UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS LONDON (UAL) | https://www.arts.ac.uk/colleges/london-college-of-communication/stories/ma-media-communications-and-critical-practice-graduate-featured-on-wired-japan
Science Journalism in The Infodemic related to COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020, its Challenges and Evolution featured on UAL
2021 | UK
Südtiroler Wirtschaftszeitung | https://swz.it/how-to-prevent-a-future-infodemic/?fbclid=IwY2xjawHq6s5leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHXgXe7KpcY9hQvtR1ZmjlwvZskLAbGX9uSifm6QmN4xdIga-Vxppt8Lb5w_aem_htfDWeDk_L0MjmjmHDQV_w
Science Journalism in The Infodemic related to COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020, its Challenges and Evolution featured on Südtiroler Wirtschaftszeitung
2022 | IT
ARTICLES
Driving Regenerative Economy with Numbers of Despair and Hope: Report on the "Switzerland-Japan Economic Forum 2024", WIRED Japan, December 12, 2024. https://wired.jp/article/switzerland-japan-economic-forum-2024-report/
OpenAI’s Video-Generating AI‘Sora’ Leaks: Artists SpeakOut, WIRED Japan, December 11, 2024. https://wired.jp/article/sora-open-letter/
The "Magic" of Technology Cast Over Kyoto Prefectural Botanical Garden by Moment Factory, WIRED Japan, November 12, 2024. https://wired.jp/article/moment-factory-light-cycles-kyoto/
What Flavor Is Ice Cream Made from Plastic?: Grow Lab by Central Saint Martins’ Questions for the Future, WIRED Japan, October 1, 2024. https://wired.jp/article/guilty-flavours-grow-lab/
A Deep Reinforcement Learning-Developed Robot "Space Hopper" Jumps Across Asteroids, WIRED Japan, August 13, 2024. https://wired.jp/article/vitality-swiss-2024-spacehopper/
Biomimicry Drones Among the Finalists of the XPRIZE Biodiversity Contest, WIRED Japan, July 8, 2024. https://wired.jp/article/vitality-swiss-2024-xprize-rainforest-drone-edna/
Why Swiss Manufacturing Excels in Building the "Eyes" That Capture Stunning Space Views, WIRED Japan, June 25, 2024. https://wired.jp/article/vitality-swiss-2024-space/
Launching DNA to the Moon?! Exploring ‘What Remains’ Through Art, WIRED Japan, June 23, 2024. https://wired.jp/article/siaf2024-amy-karle-interview/
Bringing the Alps, Struggling with Climate Change, Into Art Exhibitions: Berlin Architects' Vision, WIRED Japan, June 15, 2024. https://wired.jp/article/siaf2024-invisible-mountain/
Exploring Art's Potential as a "Heterotopia" with Local Communities: Review of Sapporo International Art Festival 2024, WIRED Japan, February 9, 2024. https://wired.jp/article/siaf2024-review/
Welcome to the Planet of Art That "Deconstructs" Bits and Atoms: Report on the "DXP (Digital Transformation Planet)" Exhibition at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, WIRED Japan, December 23, 2023. https://wired.jp/article/kanazawa21-dxp-report/
The Future of Molecular Cybernetics Realized by Chemical AI, WIRED Japan, October 3, 2023. https://wired.jp/article/chemical-ai/
How Humans Can Retreat from Short-Termism: A Proposal by a BBC Science Journalist, WIRED Japan, June 25, 2023. https://wired.jp/membership/2023/06/25/longview-richardfisher/
In an Era of AI Surveillance, Art Creates "Codewords" to Convey Love, WIRED Japan, December 30, 2022. https://wired.jp/article/ycam-unlearning-language/
Nanorobots Democratizing Surgery and Collective Intelligence Decoding Nature: Report on the World's Largest Robotics Conference "IROS 2022", WIRED Japan, December 28, 2022. https://wired.jp/article/iros-2022-report/
How a Japanese Preventive Medicine Expert Contributed to Eradicating Smallpox Amid the Global Mpox (Monkeypox) Crisis, WIRED Japan, June 19, 2022. https://wired.jp/article/monkeypox-isao-arita/
How can we prevent a future infodemic?, Eurac Research, June 21, 2022. https://www.eurac.edu/en/blogs/imagining-futures/how-can-we-prevent-a-future-infodemic https://doi.org/10.57708/b122186442
Modern Times Without Forgetting and the "Structure" of Media: "How the Words of Science Resisted the Infodemic" Amid Infodemic Resistance #3, WIRED Japan, November 8, 2021. https://wired.jp/2021/11/08/reporters-for-science-journalism3/
"How the Words of Science Resisted the Infodemic": Reporters from Science Journalism on Resisting the Infodemic #2, WIRED Japan, May 11, 2021. https://wired.jp/2021/05/11/reporters-for-science-journalism2/
"How the Words of Science Resisted the Infodemic": Reporters from Science Journalism on Resisting the Infodemic #1, WIRED Japan, April 19, 2021. https://wired.jp/2021/04/19/reporters-for-science-journalism/
The End of the “Convenience Narrative” in Technology Shown at Ars Electronica Festival 2019, WIRED Japan, October 27, 2019. https://wired.jp/2019/10/27/ars-electronica-2019/
Censorship Cannot Take Away from Art: The Debate Around Aichi Triennale and the Clash of Two “Freedoms”, WIRED Japan, September 30, 2019. https://wired.jp/2019/09/30/art-and-censorship/
Why the “Oscar of Media Arts” Was Awarded to a “VR Documentary”: Highlights from Ars Electronica Festival 2019, WIRED Japan, July 27, 2019. https://wired.jp/2019/07/27/prix-ars-electronica/
The Future Woman Wears Bacteria, WIRED Japan, April 14, 2019. https://wired.jp/2019/04/14/future-flora/
Why the World’s Most Secure Smartphone Company Moved from the US to Switzerland: Swiss Startups Part 2, WIRED Japan, March 14, 2017. https://wired.jp/2017/03/14/swiss-startup-silent-circle/
Swiss Decommissioning Robots Born from “Combining Technologies”: Swiss Startups Part 1, WIRED Japan, March 13, 2017. https://wired.jp/2017/03/13/swiss-startup-rovenso/
There Were No Boundaries Between Disabled and Non-Disabled: 2016 Cybathlon On-Site Report, WIRED Japan, October 11, 2016. https://wired.jp/2016/10/11/2016-cybathlon-report/
The “Scientific AI” Bringing “New Freedoms” (Sony CSL’s Hiroaki Kitano), WIRED Japan, September 20, 2016. https://wired.jp/2016/09/20/icf2016_kitano/
The Man Who Gave Robots “Eyes”: Meet the Legend Takeo Kanade, WIRED Japan, September 4, 2016. https://wired.jp/2016/09/04/interview-takeo-kanade/
Intelligence "Cloudified" and Freed from Death, WIRED Japan, January 25, 2015. https://wired.jp/2015/01/25/release-from-death/