Amid global calls for AI slowdown, Minister Josephine Teo shares her take
Ms Teo drew a comparison with aviation, where standards, regulations, training and safety measures have developed alongside the industry.
Over the past week, influential figures such as Anthropic co-founder Dario Amodei, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, and SpaceX head Elon Musk have urged a slowdown in artificial intelligence (AI) advancements, citing significant safety risks that could be existential. Dr Amodei wrote, "We must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models," advocating for a "pacing of the rate of capabilities advancement so that risk prevention has time to keep up."
While China's concerns regarding AI have distinct differences compared to the Western world, Chinese policymakers have expressed worries about political and social risks, closely monitoring cybersecurity threats. Singapore, a tech-forward city-state, has embraced an AI push, as demonstrated by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's national Budget announcement that year.
Recently, Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo shared her perspective on AI safeguards via a LinkedIn post on September 17. Teo, a strong advocate for AI development, emphasized the necessity of parallel safety measures, likening AI development to aviation progress. She stated, "When we board a plane, we expect to arrive safely—and almost always do.
This doesn’t happen by chance. In fact, a tremendous amount of effort is involved… there are hundreds, if not thousands, of standards and regulations to keep us safe." According to Teo, people trust aviation because of the safety measures, training, and safeguards that accompany industry development. "Trust is an essential requirement for a technology to be regularly relied upon," she added.
Singapore has incorporated safeguards with AI adoption through the Singapore AI Safety Institute and Model AI governance frameworks. The city-state also collaborates with global organizations to ensure safeguards keep pace with AI's growing capabilities. While many applauded Singapore's approach, others raised concerns. One commenter likened AI safety comparisons to aviation to being "useful—but potentially misleading," arguing that AI's behavior can evolve through training, interaction, deployment context, and human use, leading to risks beyond physical accidents.
The commenter emphasized the need for a more comprehensive safety framework designed specifically for AI's intelligent, adaptive, and general-purpose nature.
Written by urgent.news from The Independent Singapore's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
