How Singapore Tackles AI Risks

Singapore was among the first few countries to introduce a national AI strategy in 2019, with projects in areas like border clearance operations and chronic disease prediction.

- Lee Li Ying

But with the rapid development of generative AI that saw the public roll-out of large language models like ChatGPT, the nation updated its strategy in 2023.

The National AI Strategy 2.0 focuses on nurturing talent, promoting a thriving AI industry and sustaining it with world-leading infrastructure and research that ensures AI serves the public good.

To nurture talent here, Singapore aims to triple its number of AI practitioners to 15,000 by training locals and hiring from overseas.

While the nation is eager to harness the benefits of artificial intelligence to boost its digital economy, it is also wary of the manipulation, misinformation, and ethical risks involved with the technology.

To mitigate such risks, the country launched the first edition of the Model AI Governance Framework in January 2019. The voluntary framework is a guide for private sector organisations to address key ethical and governance issues when deploying traditional AI.