User-Centric and AI-Enabled Support for Photon Science in the SPring-8-II Era

This record is Version 1.4 of the discussion paper. It updates Version 1.3.1, DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20768972. Version 1.4 includes an updated English version of the discussion paper, a Japanese PDF reference translation, and an accompanying English explanatory slide PDF. The files included in this version are: the English LaTeX source, the English PDF, the Japanese PDF translation, and the English explanatory slide PDF. Compared with Version 1.3.1, Version 1.4 is a strategic clarification and reframing update. It retitles and refocuses the discussion paper from an access-framework-centered proposal toward a broader discussion of user-centric and AI-enabled support, complementary use, and knowledge infrastructure for photon science in the SPring-8-II era. The new framing treats access routes, proposal categories, beamtime allocation, data workflows, remote and mail-in use, industrial access, international user support, and cross-facility guidance as parts of a broader user-support workflow rather than as separate administrative issues. Version 1.4 also clarifies the role of the proposed Photon Science Portal as a user-facing navigation, translation, and coordination layer for Japan’s photon science ecosystem. The portal is not presented as a centralized decision-making authority, but as a federated support layer that helps users move from scientific or industrial questions to appropriate facilities, beamlines, access routes, consultation pathways, data-support workflows, and accountable human expertise while respecting the autonomy, governance, access rules, and technical responsibilities of individual facilities. The discussion of AI-enabled support has been reorganized and strengthened. Version 1.4 clarifies the distinction between the proposed AI concierge support layer and existing AI/ML applications, autonomous experiments, data portals, and FAIR-oriented data infrastructures. The AI concierge is described as a human-accountable support tool for navigation, proposal preparation, preliminary screening, knowledge retrieval, safety and feasibility checks, and handoff to experts. It should not replace peer review, safety approval, beamline-scientist judgment, beamtime allocation, proprietary-status decisions, or formal institutional decision-making. Version 1.4 further strengthens the discussion of data governance, confidentiality, and knowledge reuse. It emphasizes that confidential proposals, consultation records, proprietary experimental conditions, unpublished industrial data, and review-related information should not be used to train general AI models or to generate responses for other users. AI-assisted support should instead rely on curated public information, facility-approved internal knowledge, user-consented materials, access-controlled retrieval, traceable sources, and accountable human confirmation. A new Appendix E, “Practical Implementation Notes for AI-Enabled User Support,” has been added. This appendix preserves selected implementation-oriented elements from the previous version in a controlled form. It provides illustrative notes on the input–output contract for the AI concierge, knowledge curation during the SPring-8-II transition period, and near-term transition mapping among complementary facilities. These notes are included not as final institutional specifications, but as practical material for internal design, pilot planning, and technical discussion. Version 1.4 also expands the multi-facility perspective from the earlier focus on SPring-8-II, SACLA, and NanoTerasu toward a broader Japanese photon science ecosystem that includes PF/PF-AR and domestic regional synchrotron facilities. At the same time, it repeatedly emphasizes that complementary use does not imply institutional integration or centralized governance. Any guidance, referral, or handoff support should respect the operator, governance structure, access rules, technical responsibilities, and expertise of each facility. The Japanese PDF translation is provided to improve accessibility for Japanese readers and to support domestic discussion. The English version remains the authoritative version. The Japanese translation is provided for reference and communication purposes and should be interpreted in relation to the English original. The accompanying English explanatory slide PDF is provided as a concise visual summary of the discussion paper. It is intended to support communication with international readers, collaborators, and stakeholders, and should be read together with the full English discussion paper. Note: The central perspective of Version 1.4 is that SPring-8-II should be considered not only as a source upgrade, but also as an opportunity to redesign user support, data workflows, and knowledge infrastructure across Japan’s photon science ecosystem. This version also emphasizes the importance of connecting complementary photon science facilities from the user’s research objective, and of curating facility-side operational knowledge accumulated through user support. This strategic discussion paper proposes a user-centric and AI-enabled support framework for the SPring-8-II era. It argues for a transition from facility-first access, in which users must understand institutional and beamline boundaries in advance, to question-first support, in which users begin from their scientific or industrial objectives and are guided toward appropriate facilities, methods, access routes, consultation pathways, experiment plans, data workflows, and human experts. A central element is the proposed Photon Science Portal, supported by curated facility portfolios, retrieval-augmented AI guidance, explicit data governance, and accountable human expertise. The discussion emphasizes that AI should empower, not replace, expert judgment. Final responsibility for scientific evaluation, safety approval, beamtime allocation, facility acceptance, confidentiality handling, and research interpretation must remain with accountable human reviewers, facility experts, users, and institutional bodies. This document is an author-prepared discussion paper for international dialogue and does not represent an official policy decision of RIKEN, JASRI, MEXT, or any facility-governance body.