SINGAPORE - Artificial intelligence (AI) had its year in 2023, bringing productivity to the masses, but also raising existential questions for humanity.
Besides AI, scams continue to plague the nation in the form of malware that allows hackers to take control of victims’ devices.
Here is an overview of five key developments in the tech scene here.
1. Rise of AI
The public roll-out of ChatGPT in late 2022 took the world by storm. It delivered AI, which appeared as capable as human intelligence, to the masses.
The year saw a slew of generative AI tools from organisations eager to build next-generation productivity apps, like the Singapore Government’s Pair AI, a large language model to assist civil servants in research and writing.
Other companies like Google also launched their own public chatbots to stake a claim in the AI market.
But the rapid advancement of AI also caught the world off guard, sparking concerns of widespread misinformation and harm should the technology be misused.
In one of the earliest attempts to regulate AI, the European Union AI Act, which previously had no mention of generative AI like ChatGPT, was passed in December. It will eventually require tech companies to notify people when they are interacting with a chatbot and label AI-made content, among other legally binding rules.
Singapore, too, has formed an alliance with major tech companies to collaborate on international AI standards as it grapples to find the best policies for AI.
The Republic also revised its national AI strategy in December to equip the workforce with AI skills and avoid the risk of falling behind the competition.
Why it matters
Concerns over AI range from job displacement to privacy risks to threats to mankind, prompting action from regulators worldwide.
Widely publicised missteps in AI have demonstrated how a lack of oversight on its development can put users in trouble.
Many were duped by a deepfake image of Pope Francis in a luxurious white puffer coat in early 2023 that was created by AI. On a more severe scale, fake images of injured infants in the Israel-Hamas war caused panic among viewers.
Experts are concerned that AI could cause widespread catastrophe if it is linked to weapons systems, underscoring threats to humanity.
2. New policies for harmful online content
A Bill that empowers the Government to take down criminal content online was passed in 2023.
The Online Criminal Harms Act will allow the authorities to ask individuals, companies and Internet service providers to remove or block access to content that they suspect is being used to commit crimes, such as unlawful gambling and moneylending, and drug-related offences.
The updated Broadcasting Act also came into effect to similarly allow the authorities to compel major social media platforms to remove egregious content that promotes violence and terrorism, sexual exploitation, and threats to public health, among others.
Why it matters
The new policies expand the authorities’ power to crack down on online harm as regulators grapple with fake news, vice, cyber bullying and other issues.
The developments are a step forward, but regulators, lawyers and victims have voiced the need for the law to act quicker to stop abusive content, such as misinformation or sexually exploitative images, before they spread.
3. Crackdown on malware scams
Scammers turned to a new weapon of choice in 2023 – malware-laden apps that allow them to monitor and take control of victims’ devices and siphon off money from their bank accounts.
The spike in such scams forced local banks to roll out new security measures that include blocking customers from accessing their banks’ digital services on their phones if they detect apps that are installed from unverified app stores or those that require risky permissions like screen-sharing.
OCBC Bank was the first to launch such a feature in August to mixed reactions, as some users felt that the bank was overstepping in deciding which apps they could use.
By October, DBS and UOB had rolled out the measure to block access to banking apps in the presence of unofficial apps from third-party app stores with suspicious permissions enabled.
The banks also offered a new “money lock” security feature to allow customers to lock up their savings for in-person access only.
Why it matters
In the first half of 2023, more than $330 million was stolen from 22,339 victims.
Police statistics show that more than 1,400 victims were duped by malware scams between January and August, with total losses amounting to at least $20.6 million.
These scams typically surface in the form of a disingenuous advertisement that promises a good deal, such as affordable holidays or cheap mooncakes, before the victim is directed to install a sideloaded app to claim the offer, allowing hackers to take over the victim’s device.
4. Cyber security gets beefed up
Cybercrooks doggedly launched attacks on individuals and corporations alike.
Among these, MGM Resorts International’s operations were disrupted by ransomware in September, forcing the hospitality chain to momentarily shut down its systems.
MGM did not say if it paid any ransom, but added that the disruption is estimated to have cost it about US$100 million (S$132 million) and that the private data of its customers was stolen.
Crooks continued to take aim at firms in possession of healthcare data – among the most valued in the black market.
Such incidents have spurred Singapore to invest heavily in defences against cyber attacks.
Telcos here will soon revamp existing fibre networks to be able to fend off attacks by quantum computers in the future – the next generation of computers that threaten to unravel passwords and encryption technology in seconds, posing a risk to hospitals, banks and other essential services.
The Government also invested about $110 million to fund two cyber security centres at universities here to expand Singapore’s research and commercial capabilities in the sector.
Why it matters
In Singapore, cyber attacks on critical infrastructure and businesses indicate that cyberthreats are right on our doorstep.
Such attackers are typically on the hunt for sensitive data to sell on the Dark Web, which can then be used to scam victims or in other schemes. Attackers lock organisations out of critical systems to hold them at ransom.
The public sector reported 182 data incidents between April 2022 and March 2023 where data was leaked.
In November, a cyber attack took out the websites of Singapore’s public healthcare institutions, causing an hours-long outage. While key healthcare services were not affected, services linked to the Internet were inaccessible during the attack.
The contact details and other personal information of about 665,000 members of a Marina Bay Sands shoppers’ rewards programme were exposed in a data leak in October.
5. Remembering tech legend Sim Wong Hoo
The tech world grieved over the death of Creative Technology chief executive and chairman Sim Wong Hoo, the poster boy for Singapore tech entrepreneurship, who died in January at the age of 67. Details of his death were not made public.
Mr Sim founded the business in 1981, and under his leadership, the firm became famous for its music players and Sound Blaster sound cards. Launched in 1987, the cards revolutionised the audio tech space as it enabled users to play and record speech and music on computers.
He famously went to war with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs over their companies’ portable music players. He sued the iPod-maker in 2006 for patent infringements and walked away with a US$100 million settlement.
Why it matters
Few tech companies have made a name for themselves quite like Creative in its heyday.
As Singapore’s youngest billionaire in 2000, the late Mr Sim paved the way for entrepreneurs in tech, even before the Republic began to develop into a tech hub.
Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat wrote in a post in January dedicated to Mr Sim: “Sim Wong Hoo made it in an era when Singapore was not known for innovation or entrepreneurship... His success served as inspiration for Singapore start-ups that followed.”
