Telemedicine (all medical and nursing care provided between two distant points via telecommunication lines) is penetrating healthcare worldwide at an unimaginable speed.
 The use of telemedicine has been rapidly expanding, especially during the new coronavirus pandemic, as it attracted attention as an infection control measure for both doctors and patients. The author and his collaborators conducted several clinical studies using telemedicine in Japan.
 Remote cognitive function tests demonstrated high agreement with face-to-face assessments, and cognitive behavioral therapy administered remotely also resulted in therapeutic effects and high patient satisfaction.
 Telemedicine is expected to be introduced in numerous situations and in many forms, such as central evaluation, to improve the success rate of clinical trials and symptom evaluation through monitoring of daily life, in addition to its use in medical treatment.
 In the near future, location-flexible trials, which enable evaluation without visiting a medical institution, will be launched.
 In addition, in some countries, services, such as AI-based medical interviewing and remote diagnosis and prescription by a doctor, have started and are attracting attention.
 These services are beginning to significantly alter the nature of medical care in the countries where they have been introduced.
 In this paper, we will discuss the evidence and new examples of these different forms of telemedicine, and how these technologies should be utilized in Japan.
 Healthcare is undergoing a global transformation with AI and telemedicine at its core, and it is hoped that Japan will not lag far behind other countries and achieve balanced development.
 Authors' abstract