Cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence can be a double-edged sword.
Mr Alvin Tan, assistant director of SG Enable’s Independent Living and Carer Support division, shared this advice while speaking to young people at the Huawei Tech4City Dialogue 2024 on 21 May.
The conversation on “Empowering through Technology”, held at Enabling Village, Singapore’s first inclusive community space for disability inclusion, featured speakers from SG Enable, Singapore Management University (SMU) and Singapore International Foundation (SIF).
“As with all technology, [AI] “It can be seen as a double-edged sword. It can be used for good or for bad,” Mr Tan said.
“We’re starting to see a variety of AI-powered applications emerge, but they’re very dependent on data sets, and because these data sets tend to be catered to large groups of people, there’s an inherent bias.”
Developing inclusive and sustainable solutions
The dialogue session was held in conjunction with the third round of the Huawei Tech4City competition, which was launched in March, and welcomed participants to consider inclusivity, accessibility and sustainability in the solutions they are developing.
Huawei International CEO Maxi Wang called the Tech4City competition “a platform for young talents to unleash their creativity and innovation, drive positive change, and contribute to Singapore’s digital transformation journey.”
During his presentation, Tan said SG Enable, one of the key partners of this year’s Tech4City competition, is the focal point and first hub for disability and inclusion in Singapore.
Founded in 2013, it publishes resources such as the Designing Inclusive Spaces Playbook and the E-Accessibility Playbook to advance digital inclusion.
Mr Tan also said that the Enabling Village, run by SG Enable, showcased how universal design, information and communications technology and assistive technology can help people with disabilities live fulfilling lives.
He gave the example of Tech Able, located in Enabling Village, which introduces and promotes the adoption of assistive and information and communication technologies, and seeks more training and employment opportunities through technology for people with disabilities.
Collaboration, communication and community
The conversation also featured Winston Chou, professor of urban climatology at SMU, who shared his experience researching climate change and how technology can help governments more effectively implement solutions to reduce exposure to climate hazards.
He offered advice to the audience and emphasized that the three C’s are the keys to success: collaboration, communication, and community.
In terms of collaboration, he urged the young people to leverage the skill sets and knowledge of their team members, thereby tapping into the “collective intelligence” of each group.
The Tech4City competition is open to young people aged 18 to 35 in groups of three to six. This year, participants are invited to come up with ideas and develop solutions around the themes of “AI for Inclusivity” and “AI for Sustainability”, with a grand prize of S$20,000 on offer.
“This collaboration needs to involve other stakeholders outside of your team. Talk to professors like me, talk to people in the public sector, talk to others in the private sector. This helps ensure that the product you’re developing speaks to as many people as possible about sustainability.”
In addition to effective communication, Prof Chow said, “When we talk about solutions, we need to make sure it’s for people, not technology for technology’s sake. It has to resonate with people from different communities and bring people together.”
Improving digital skills for sustainability and inclusion
The third speaker of the day was Willoughby Niki Lee, a leadership volunteer with DigiLabs, SIF’s digital skills development initiative.
Noting that most of the young people in the audience are growing up as digital natives in an age of emerging AI, he asked how this generation of learners can equip themselves with not only digital skills but also what he called “green” skills and “care” skills.
“The question now is: ‘How do we develop these? [AI] “What are the tools?” and “How do we learn the skills to develop AI solutions related to social impact, sustainability, accessibility, etc.”
Lee said DigiLab helps upskill and prepare young people and working professionals for the digital economy, while aiming to transform learners across Asia from mere digital consumers to active digital creators and digital multipliers to bring about positive change.
“Volunteering is one way we facilitate this, and we are also looking at some ethical scenarios. [in the DigiLabs programme]”And then we get people to think in groups about how they can actually address these issues.”
Visiting the support villages
The second half of the dialogue session included a walking tour of the Enabling Village led by a person with a disability for Tech4City attendees.
During the tour, the young people were able to observe many firsts at the Village, including Singapore’s first inclusive kindergarten and first inclusive gym.
Participants also had the opportunity to experience the assistive technology on display at Tech Able, interact with and be inspired by people with different abilities, and see how employing people with disabilities can benefit businesses.
Registration for Tech4City 2024 closes on June 9th. For more information and to register for Tech4City, click here tech4city.sg/2024.
