Foreword

ETHOS Issue 27, January 2025

AI for the Public Good, for Singapore and the World

Almost a year has passed since we launched our refreshed National AI Strategy (NAIS 2.0).

Reflecting on the journey, I recall our 300 engagements with academics, technologists, industry leaders, and governments, both local and abroad, to formulate the strategy. NAIS 2.0 represents our vision to harness AI for the public good, for Singapore and the World.

A year in, we have made good progress. Across the Singapore ecosystem, there is widespread experimentation and enthusiasm for AI. Within the public sector, colleagues are using AI to improve healthcare delivery, help students learn at their own pace, and be more effective in law enforcement. They’ve even created thousands of AI bots! Companies are also growing their capabilities in areas like predictive maintenance of equipment in manufacturing and transport. AI is making its way into all our workplaces, and we can imagine it will soon make a bigger impact.

Our challenge now is to ride on this early momentum to raise our level of ambition, to aim for greater breadth and depth in our AI adoption. Across Singapore’s AI ecosystem, we should treat every success as rehearsal, just to get a hang of what the technology can do. Then, double down and look to multiply the gains by 10x or even 100x! Keep in mind what happened with another general-purpose technology.

While electricity was introduced to factories in the late 19th century, its full transformative impact took 30 to 50 years. AI may not take as long but the full benefits to people and organisations will still take time. In fact, we cannot afford to wait that long—pressing global challenges like climate change and rapid population ageing could do with more help from AI.

Even as we pursue innovation and wider use, let’s continue to be mindful of AI’s risks. We must be committed to deploying AI safely and responsibly, recognising that there are no clear answers yet to our questions regarding safety and the methods of ensuring safety.

This is why we participate actively in international discussions on AI safety and governance. We are also actively developing capabilities in risk assessment and testing. These efforts reflect our seriousness and makes Singapore a credible contributor to global conversations about AI governance.

Looking ahead, I am confident that Singapore’s AI ecosystem will continue to grow. The future looks more promising because our people and organisations care to make it so!

Mrs Josephine Teo
Minister for Digital Development and Information
and Minister-in-charge of Smart Nation and Cybersecurity

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