Seniors pick up Gen AI skills such as spotting deepfakes as part of national push

Unnaturally smooth skin, unsynchronised speech and questionable sources — these are some of the telltale signs Madam Lim Siew Gin, 70, has learnt to tell a deepfake apart from a real video.

- Sarah Koh

Retirees Jessie Teo and Victor Lim, who are married to each other, participating in a Gen AI workshop conducted for seniors by IMDA's digital ambassadors at Fernvale Community Club on Sept 19.

(ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM)

"Some people have shared a deepfake video of Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong promoting cryptocurrency with me on WhatsApp before," said the retired uniformed officer, adding that she was not duped by this ruse as she keeps up with news reports on such scams.

But the skills she picked up through a workshop on generative Al (Gen AI) would come in handy, said Madam Lim, as AI video generation apps become increasingly sophisticated.

She is among the first batch of seniors who attended a Gen AI literacy workshop in August, organised by DBS Foundation in conjunction with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA). Over the next three years, the bank intends to conduct 1,000 of such classes, which will also cover topics such as digital banking and anti-scam education.

"As Singapore prepares to transition to a super-aged society, we want to ensure that everyone is empowered to embrace digitalisation and participate meaningfully in the evolving digital world," said Mr Lim Him Chuan, DBS Singapore country head.

The Gen AI workshops tap content internally curated by the bank, as well as IMDA's Digital Skills for Life (DSL) Framework, which was launched in 2024 as part of a national push to equip Singaporeans with basic digital skills such as transacting online.

With the rise of popular Gen AI tools such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, the framework was enhanced in 2025 to include lessons on how to use such tools for generating information, and how to stay safe against known risks such as hallucinations and deepfakes.