Asia’s flagship tech event, Asia Tech x Singapore (ATxSG), opens today at Capella Singapore with ATxSummit, an invitation-only event that sees business, tech and government leaders from around the world discuss the myriad opportunities and challenges of the digital space. Organised by Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), the Summit was kicked off by Guest-of-Honour, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Mr. Lawrence Wong
Speaking at the opening was also Chief Executive IMDA, Mr. Lew Chuen Hong who provided the groundwork on the state of technology use today and its potential benefits to productivity and the global economy. In a featured address, H.E Kaja Kallas, Prime Minister, Republic of Estonia, spoke about how a shared digital world that is open, free and secure can only be achieved through three things – collaboration, strong partnerships and trusted connectivity. Echoing her sentiments was Dame Jacinda Ardern, former Prime Minister of New Zealand. Ms. Ardern made a special appearance with a recorded address that emphasised the importance of collaborations between the private and public sectors as we govern and navigate the deployment of generative AI tools.
ATxSummit embarked on exciting panels focused on Generative AI, tech for good, navigating tech winter, immersive technologies, and digital sustainability.
The first Generative AI panel, titled “Pause or Play – Generative AI’s Promise, Perils and Partnerships” was moderated by Annabelle Droulers, Bloomberg Television, and included panellists H.E. Alexandra van Huffelen, Minister for Digitalisation and Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, Netherlands; Ahmed Mazhari, President, Microsoft Asia; and Keith Strier, Vice President, Worldwide AI Initiatives, Nvidia.
They discussed the importance of policy and regulation by both governments and private organisations regarding AI, noting the potential existential risk that the technology possesses. The panellists also shared case studies and examples on how generative AI can benefit society across multiple segments – from healthcare, education, language training and economic productivity. It is also important for generative AI to be trusted by society for its true potential to be harnessed, with the panellists agreeing on the importance of a more holistic education process together with international regulations put in place.
Along a similar vein, “Pause or Play: Generative AI’s Innovators” panel was moderated by Su Lian Jye, Chief Analyst, Applied Intelligence, Omdia and included panellists such as Ben Brooks, Head of Public Policy, Stability AI; Ori Goshen, Co-CEO, AI21 Labs; Feng-Yuan Liu, Vice President of Business Development, Aicadium, Michael Sellitto, Head of Policy (Interim), Anthropic; Joshua Wong, Co-Founder and CEO, Hypotenuse AI; Ivan Zhang, Co-Founder & CTO, Cohere and Jennifer Zhang, Co-Founder and CEO, WIZ.AI.
