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Business Times
28-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
New initiatives to facilitate cross-border data transfer and multimodal AI model Meralion
[SINGAPORE] New initiatives to facilitate cross-border data transfer and artificial intelligence (AI) safety were among the slew of announcements by the Infocomm and Media Authority of Singapore on Wednesday (May 28). A new Global Cross-Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) certification was announced, which would give businesses certainty in international data transfers. The certification would show compliance with internationally recognised data protection standards. This new certification is built on the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) CBPR certification. OCBC is among the 100 Apec CBPR-certified organisations expected to benefit. At the start, the global CBPR certification will give access to nine economies – US, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Canada, Philippines, Chinese Taipei and Mexico. The global CBPR certification will take effect on Jun 2. 'Robust safeguards and a uniform framework for personal data across borders are crucial for secure and efficient data flows,' said Loretta Yuen, head of group legal and compliance, OCBC. A new version of a multimodal large language model developed by A*Star – Multimodal Empathetic Reasoning and Learning in One Network (Meralion) – was also launched on Wednesday. Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo announced that a consortium for Meralion will be established in a speech at ATX Singapore. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up 'A*Star (Agency for Science, Technology and Research) will partner companies such as DBS, Grab, ST Engineering, NCS, SPH Media Trust as well as the Ministry of Health to harness expertise in the ecosystem, share learnings and accelerate adoption,' she said. Meralion can understand emotions, context and intent across South-east Asia's multiple languages and cultures such as English, Mandarin, Malay, Tamil, Bahasa Indonesia, Thai and Vietnamese. Version one was downloaded more than 90,000 times since its launch in December 2024. 'Understanding local nuance, context and culture isn't just a technical challenge – it's a human one,' said Bidyut Dumra, group head of innovation, DBS. The consortium will priorities three areas: Multilingual customers support: enabling seamless natural communication across languages and dialects Health and emotional insight detection: analysing speech and text for emotional cues Agentic decision-making: making AI agents aware of context and cultural sensitivity The consortium will aggregate demand and reduce costs, while sharing data and technical insights to improve Meralion's performance. Tools, training and developer resources will be built to accelerate implementation, and consortium members will develop real-world proof-of-concepts together for deployment. 'As a news media company, we recognise the importance of embracing technologies that can enhance user experience, and in so doing allow us to reach and engage audiences more effectively,' said Loh Yuh Yiing, chief operating officer of SPH Media.
The Star
28-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
Singlish-savvy Singapore AI chatbot can check in on seniors, intercept scam calls
SINGAPORE: Artificial intelligence agents trained to speak in English, local mother-tongue languages and even Singlish may soon be deployed to call elderly patients or seniors to check in on how them are doing, or in anti-scam centres to intercept suspicious calls. 'I've been told (the chatbot) can also handle non-verbal cues such as the speaker's volume, emotion, tone,' said Digital Development and Information Minister Josephine Teo, unveiling the chatbot on Wednesday (May 28) at the Asia Tech x Singapore conference. Called Meralion (short for Multimodal Empathetic Reasoning and Learning in One Network), the chatbot can understand at least eight regional languages such as English, Mandarin, Tamil, Malay, Thai and Singlish - Singapore's unique take on English which fuses regional languages. Meralion, which is developed by A*Star (Agency for Science, Technology and Research), is available for the public to install for free to adapt for their uses. Its developers are also in talks with a social service agency to deploy the chatbot, and are refining the program for use in scam detection. For instance, Meralion can help social workers ring seniors to remind them to take their medication. The AI program, which works autonomously, can also check in on the seniors' well-being, analysing their tone and dialogue for signs of sadness or anger that might require closer attention from human staff members. The chatbot will generate a summary of the call, detailing the senior's needs and well-being. Meralion's development is part of a S$70 million initiative funded by the National Research Foundation and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), which aims to build large language models tailored for the region. The fund has also backed AI Singapore's Sea-Lion (South-east Asian Languages in One Network) model, which is trained on at least 11 major languages used in the region. The Meralion chatbot fills a gap for locally-attuned language models as most current AI systems are trained largely on Western data, said Dr Lawrence Wee, director of business and ecosystems at IMDA's BizTech Group. As a result, chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Gemini that dominate the fast-growing AI field can often stumble over local dialects, communication styles and nuances, so deploying them here often requires extensive retraining on regional data. Meralion, trained on the national speech corpus, understands when multiple languages are spoken in the same sentence, reflecting how people in the region naturally communicate. Meralion can also detect emotional tone to enable more empathetic interactions with the chatbot, said IMDA and A*Star. They added that Meralion is being trained to understand Chinese dialects in future updates. Teo, who is Minister-in-Charge of Smart Nation and Cybersecurity, said that the Meralion chatbot can serve the needs of more than 450 million people in the region who use these languages. In a demonstration on May 26, the media was shown how Meralion can be deployed in eldercare and anti-scam efforts. The social services AI bot asked the caller how he was feeling and understood his Singlish reply, which included a lament on his early start to the day: 'I wake up at 6 and make my kopi-o' (local black coffee). The bot responded in Singlish: 'Aiyoh, so sayang... Hope your kopi-o helped. Have you eaten? Remember to take care of yourself, okay?' For more severe concerns such as body aches, the bot can give basic advice, such as to rest or ice bruises. Urgent cases can be flagged directly to social workers, depending on how the program is implemented. Dr Wee said Meralion's developers are in talks with a social service agency, which it did not identify, to deploy the AI chatbot for eldercare. In a separate demonstration, Meralion was used to screen likely scam calls to prevent scammers from reaching victims over the phone. If a call seems suspicious, Meralion answers, identifies itself as an AI assistant and asks the caller to state their purpose. The bot assesses the purpose of the call before deciding whether to let the call through or to block it. Meralion can also block calls made by bots, often used by scammers to target victims en masse. It is yet to be seen how potential clients will implement the technology. Telcos might employ it to screen suspicious calls before they reach users who opt in for the security service, or as an app to filter calls, said Lam Pang Ngean, business development director at Axion IT Solutions, which is working with A*Star bring Meralion to potential clients. An earlier version of Meralion has been downloaded more than 90,000 times by start-ups, research labs and academics, among other users, since it was rolled out as an open-source tool in December 2024. 'Furthermore, (Meralion's latest version) understands sentences containing a mix of languages, which is common in multi-cultural societies,' said Teo, speaking to several hundred tech policymakers, researchers and industry guests in attendance at Capella in Sentosa. 'It's very unusual for us to complete a whole sentence using just one language,' she said, adding that there were more than 1,200 languages and dialects in South-East Asia. Meralion follows the footsteps of Sea-Lion, another large language model designed to reflect local cultures. The open-source Sea-Lion software has been installed more than 200,000 times, said Teo, adding that the interest in a regionally attuned model indicated a demand for a new AI program capable of understanding speech, text and other modes of communication. Organised by IMDA, the ATxSG conference is expected to host 3,500 attendees from around the world who will attend panels and discussions on AI governance and innovation in the technology sector between May 27 and 29. Executives from major tech companies like OpenAI, Microsoft and Google are also scheduled to attend panel discussions that address pressing issues in tech. Teo announced the Meralion Consortium, which launches with 12 member organisations including DBS Bank, the Ministry of Health and ST Engineering, to with Meralion's developers to refine the AI model so that they can be used by member companies and their sectors. The consortium will focus on multilingual customer support, analysing speech and text for emotional cues to support wellbeing and care and to improve AI's decision-making ability by factoring cultural contexts. The members include Microsoft, which is working with A*Star on how Meralion can be woven into its suite of office tools. SPH Media, which runs The Straits Times, is also exploring ways to use Meralion to support AI apps in user experience and customer service tools, said chief operating officer Loh Yuh Yiing. - The Straits Times/ANN
Straits Times
28-05-2025
- Straits Times
Singlish-savvy national AI chatbot can check in on seniors, intercept scam calls
Meralion is available for the public to install for free to adapt for their uses. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO SINGAPORE – A rtificial intelligence agents trained to speak in English, local mother-tongue languages and even Singlish may soon be deployed to call elderly patients or seniors to check in on how them are doing, or in anti-scam centres to intercept suspicious calls. 'I've been told (the chatbot) can also handle non-verbal cues such as the speaker's volume, emotion, tone,' said Digital Development and Information Minister Josephine Teo, unveiling the chatbot on May 28 at the Asia Tech x Singapore conference. Called Meralion (short for Multimodal Empathetic Reasoning and Learning in One Network), the chatbot can understand at least eight regional languages such as English, Mandarin, Tamil, Malay, Thai and Singlish - Singapore's unique take on English which fuses regional languages. Meralion, which is developed by A*Star ( Agency for Science, Technology and Research), is available for the public to install for free to adapt for their uses. Its developers are also in talks with a social service agency to deploy the chatbot, and are refining the program for use in scam detection. For instance, Meralion can help social workers ring seniors to remind them to take their medication. The AI program, which works autonomously, can also check in on the seniors' well-being, analysing their tone and dialogue for signs of sadness or anger that might require closer attention from human staff members. The chatbot will generate a summary of the call, detailing the senior's needs and well-being. Meralion's development is part of a $70 million initiative funded by the National Research Foundation and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), which aims to build large language models tailored for the region. The fund has also backed AI Singapore's Sea-Lion (South-east Asian Languages in One Network) model, which is trained on at least 11 major languages used in the region. The Meralion chatbot fills a gap for locally-attuned language models as most current AI systems are trained largely on Western data, said Dr Lawrence Wee, director of business and ecosystems at IMDA's BizTech Group. As a result, chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Gemini that dominate the fast-growing AI field can often stumble over local dialects, communication styles and nuances, so deploying them here often requires extensive retraining on regional data. Meralion, trained on the national speech corpus, understands when multiple languages are spoken in the same sentence, reflecting how people in the region naturally communicate . Meralion can also detect emotional tone to enable more empathetic interactions with the chatbot, said IMDA and A*Star. They added that Meralion is being trained to understand Chinese dialects in future updates. Mrs Teo, who is Minister-in-Charge of Smart Nation and Cybersecurity, said that the Meralion chatbot can serve the needs of more than 450 million people in the region who use these languages. In a demonstration on May 26, the media was shown how Meralion can be deployed in eldercare and anti-scam efforts. The social services AI bot asked the caller how he was feeling and understood his Singlish reply, which included a lament on his early start to the day: 'I wake up at 6 and make my kopi-o ' (local black coffee). The bot responded in Singlish: 'Aiyo h , so sayang... Hope your kopi-o helped. Have you eaten? Remember to take care of yourself, okay?' For more severe concerns such as body aches, the bot can give basic advice, such as to rest or ice bruises. Urgent cases can be flagged directly to social workers, depending on how the program is implemented. Dr Wee said Meralion's developers are in talks with a social service agency, which it did not identify, to deploy the AI chatbot for eldercare . In a separate demo nstration , Meralion was used to screen likely scam calls to prevent scammers from reaching victims over the phone. If a call seems suspicious, Meralion answers, identifies itself as an AI assistant and asks the caller to state their purpose. The bot assesses the purpose of the call before deciding whether to let the call through or to block it. Meralion can also block calls made by bots, often used by scammers to target victims en masse. It is yet to be see n how potential clients will implement the technology. Telcos might employ it to screen suspicious calls before they reach users who opt in for the security service, or as an app to filter calls , said Mr Lam Pang Ngean, business development director at Axion IT Solutions, which is working with A*Star bring Meralion to potential clients. An earlier version of Meralion has been downloaded more than 90,000 times by start-ups , research labs and academics, among other users, since it was rolled out as an open-source tool in December 2024. 'Furthermore, (Meralion's latest version) understands sentences containing a mix of languages, which is common in multi-cultural societies,' said Mrs Teo, speaking to several hundred tech policymakers, researchers and industry guests in attendance at Capella in Sentosa. 'It's very unusual for us to complete a whole sentence using just one language,' she said, adding that there were more than 1,200 languages and dialects in South-east Asia. Meralion follows the footsteps of Sea-Lion, another large language model designed to reflect local cultures. The open-source Sea-Lion software has been installed more than 200,000 times, said Mrs Teo, adding that the interest in a regionally attuned model indicated a demand for a new AI program capable of understanding speech, text and other modes of communication. Organised by IMDA, the ATxSG conference is expected to host 3,500 attendees from around the world who will attend panels and discussions on AI governance and innovation in the technology sector between May 27 and 29. Executives from major tech companies like OpenAI, Microsoft and Google are also scheduled to attend panel discussions that address pressing issues in tech. Mrs Teo announced the Meralion Consortium, which launches with 12 member organisations including DBS Bank, the Ministry of Health and ST Engineering, to with Meralion's developers to refine the AI model so that they can be used by member companies and their sectors. The consortium will focus on multilingual customer support, analysing speech and text for emotional cues to support wellbeing and care and to improve AI's decision-making ability by factoring cultural contexts. The members include Microsoft, which is working with A*Star on how Meralion can be woven into its suite of office tools. SPH Media, which runs The Straits Times, is also exploring ways to use Meralion to support AI apps in user experience and customer service tools, said chief operating officer Loh Yuh Yiing. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
Straits Times
26-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Singapore chipmakers unfazed by tariff threat, see AI and talent hunt as bigger challenges
Chip firms at the Semicon Southeast Asia 2025 last week were unanimous in their view that the industry will not be immune to a global economic slowdown. PHOTO: SEMI SINGAPORE - Singapore's semiconductor industry will continue to invest and innovate to address the growing demand for more efficient chips, despite threats of new trade barriers that can further disrupt its highly globalised supply chain. The more pressing challenges for chipmakers and companies in related businesses – both multinational and local – are the hunt for talent, and the race to innovate and stay competitive and relevant in the era of artificial intelligence. To be sure, chip firms at the three-day Semicon Southeast Asia 2025 in Singapore during May 20 - May 22 were unanimous in their view that despite its solid growth prospects, the industry will not be immune to a global economic slowdown induced by the current trade policy uncertainty and any new tariffs that would affect consumer demand for electronic goods. While making its supply chains more adaptable to geopolitical demand and supply vulnerabilities remain an uphill task, the industry has so far successfully weathered intensifying trade tensions and technology competition between the world's two largest economies – the United States and China since 2017. In the same period, global chip sales have increased at a record pace and are expected to cross the US$1 trillion (S$1.28 trillion) mark by early 2030s from around US$627 billion in 2024. More recently, chip revenues are getting an additional uplift from the fast-growing cloud capacity, with new data centres popping up worldwide to handle the immense computational and data storage demands of artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The industry, however, sees the AI opportunity as a challenge as well. Referring to AI, Mr Tim Breen, chief executive officer of chipmaker GlobalFoundries, said at the Semicon event: 'There is, of course, optimism across the board, but within that is a question – are we ready? Are we ready for that growth? 'If innovation takes five companies to make it happen, do we really know how to work together in groups globally in a world that is more fragmented?' As a step in deepening its innovation partnerships, GlobalFoundries, which has a chipmaking plant in Singapore, signed a pact on the sidelines of the event with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star), the Republic's lead public sector research and development (R&D) agency. The collaboration will give the chipmaker access to A*Star's R&D facilities for development and support for workforce skills enhancement in advanced packaging – the most talked-about technology at the Semicon event. Advanced packaging – which involves combining multiple chips and components into a single package – has become a key priority for the industry. Since AI workloads need more computational speed, data storage capacity and high electricity consumption, the technology delivers processing units that not only excel in performance but are also energy efficient. Mr Breen believes that no company in the world can bring such complex semiconductor devices to market on their own. 'You need a whole host of innovation, you need a whole host of manufacturing partnerships to do that,' he said. Other company executives also echoed Mr Breen's view, saying chipmakers are deepening their collaboration with test and packaging companies, chip designers and equipment makers to address the AI imperative. Mr Andrew Goh, corporate vice-president and general manager for South - east Asia at Lam Research, which makes machines used in chip manufacturing, said his company is also deepening its partnerships with its customers, suppliers and other stakeholders in the ecosystem to help address both the supply chain and technological challenges. 'We are working with the governments, schools and universities to collaborate on the R&D and innovation that we can do locally,' Mr Goh told The Straits Times. The company has a network of plants across Asia, including one in Malaysia and two offices in Singapore , to manage its supply chain and customer support. He said Lam has ongoing engagements with the Republic's Nanyang Technological University and National University of Singapore to also help them maintain a talent pipeline, and develop and retain their workforce. Mr Goh said AI is not only changing the market for companies like Lam, with demand rising for machines for advanced packing and manufacturing of advanced chips, it is also having an impact internally. AI is being increasingly used to boost factory floor efficiency of chipmakers and equipment makers like Lam, which also means increasing demand for talent. 'Maintaining a talent pipeline has become a pressing challenge for the industry, not only in Singapore but in other countries and regions as well,' Mr Goh said. The Semicon event also had a dedicated space for career exploration fair that hosted several career talks. Ms Michelle Phua, director of operations management at chip equipment maker Applied Materials, said the industry has broadened the scope of talent from engineering graduates and diploma holders to professionals in related fields such as software development. Singapore universities and polytechnics offer several programmes focused on areas like integrated circuit design, manufacturing and operations. In recent years, they have also launched short courses for graduates and mid-career professions under the umbrella of the SkillsFuture scheme – a joint initiative of the Ministry of Trade and Industry and Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech). Still, developing a sustainable talent pipeline is seen as a problem not only by large multinational firms such as GlobalFoundries, Lam Research and Applied Materials but also by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Mr Kenneth Lee, CEO of Global Tech Solutions – which provides refurbishment, installations and field service support to chipmakers – said graduates do not see chip manufacturing as less glamorous. 'We put in a lot of effort, like participating in career events and going to educational institutions to introduce ourselves and the industry,' he said. Still, many company executives appreciated the Government's effort to boost talent supply, and recognised the importance of working closely with universities and polytechnics to encourage more of their graduates to join the industry. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
SGH to lead $5.8m research project to combat deadly autoimmune disease
SINGAPORE – A team of researchers led by the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) is embarking on a five-year-long $5.77 million research project to better diagnose and treat systemic sclerosis – a life-threatening autoimmune disease which has largely unknown underlying causes. To do so, researchers aim to develop a predictive algorithm that can better detect those at risk of worse outcomes, and validate an imaging technique that can sift out earlier those whose condition is set to deteriorate. Systemic sclerosis, or scleroderma, afflicts about eight out of 100,000 people in Asian populations. In Singapore, it is estimated that around 500 to 600 patients are living with the condition at any one point in time. Some 10 to 15 patients are newly diagnosed every year. The exact cause of the disease is not fully understood, but it is believed to be a combination of genetic and environmental factors. For example, a viral infection can trigger individuals with a genetic disposition to develop the rare disease. The condition causes the body's immune system to mistakenly target and attack its healthy tissues and cells. This can result in thickening and hardening of the skin, lungs and other internal organs. The research project, funded by an A*Star grant, was announced at SGH in a media briefing on May 22. Known as the Singapore Systemic Sclerosis Precision Medicine Project, or Sysmic, it brings together clinician scientists, laboratory and big-data scientists and imaging specialists to analyse data derived from patients' genes and immune system. The goal is to gain better insights into how the disease progresses in different patients. About 300 patients will be recruited for the study. Participating institutes include the SingHealth Duke-NUS Translational Immunology Institute, National Neuroscience Institute, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine at Nanyang Technological University, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, National University Hospital and Sengkang General Hospital. Sysmic lead Andrea Low said: 'Scleroderma is particularly challenging as it affects each patient differently in both severity and progression. With Asian patients showing poorer survival rates and known genetic differences in scleroderma risk, the goal is to develop more personalised treatments and better ways to predict how the disease will progress.' Research has shown that just 52 per cent of Asians are still alive nine years after their diagnosis, compared with 76 per cent of Caucasians. In Singapore, patients with mild or localised symptoms often have a normal life expectancy. However, among those whose lungs, heart and kidneys are affected, half die of the disease within two to three years of its onset. Associate Professor Low, who is also a senior consultant at SGH's department of rheumatology and immunology, said the disease is very complex because it can cause three interconnected processes: inflammation, vascular damage and excessive fibrosis. Often, it is not clear which process is taking place in a patient. This makes it hard to administer the right treatment to slow down the progression of the disease. To better target the right underlying process, researchers on the project will study in detail how scleroderma patients' immune systems behave. With the data, they hope to develop a preliminary predictive algorithm that can give better insights into a patient's prognosis. 'It could tell us which one of the three processes is happening, so we can use the appropriate drugs to treat these patients,' said Prof Low. Lung fibrosis, where scarring in the organ makes it hard for patients to breathe, is one of the major causes of death in scleroderma. Asians who develop the disease tend to have worse lung fibrosis, said Prof Low. The research project will aim to validate a new imaging technique that can better detect if lung cells are actively producing fibrous tissue. Explaining the technique, Prof Low said radiotracers are injected into a patient and will light up on a scan when cells are actively producing tissue. 'The problem now is that we cannot quite use (this technique) because we don't know what's the threshold (before we take action). Do we say 'even if I see one tiny spot, we should treat', or maybe we treat when it's 10 per cent lit up,' she said, adding that the research will help to determine the threshold. She also hopes the research project will be able to help current patients like Ms Haslina Wanoor, 45. Ms Haslina was diagnosed with the disease in 2008, when she was 28. Three years later, her condition deteriorated when her lung fibrosis worsened, leaving her breathless. In 2013, she underwent a stem cell transplant that bought her about five years of stability. Today, she is on palliative care and needs supplemental oxygen supply from an oxygen concentrator 24 hours a day. Prof Low said that while Ms Haslina's lung fibrosis is in the advanced stages, doctors are trying to stabilise the disease with medication. With a more precise lung imaging method, doctors will be better able to more confidently detect what is happening and escalate treatment if needed. For patients, this can help reduce suffering and prolong lifespan when timely treatment is given. For Ms Haslina, her priority now is her 20-year-old daughter. 'I hope I'll still be able to fulfil my duties as a mother, and see her go through more milestones of her life, like graduation or even marriage.' Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction Discover how to enjoy other premium articles here
