Infrastructure of trust key to addressing public wariness towards institutions: Josephine Teo

SINGAPORE - The Internet does not always bring out the best in people or help with building trust.

Across the globe, trust in almost all institutions – governments, the media and corporations, among others – has fallen, said Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo on Tuesday.

In her opening speech at the one-day Asia Future Summit at Raffles City Convention Centre, which is organised by The Straits Times and has OCBC Bank as its main sponsor, Mrs Teo added that misinformation amid the pandemic has only eroded trust further.

“If we, as a society, cannot agree on a bare minimum of common, shared facts, policymaking will be impossible.

“This infrastructure of trust is vital to public discourse and proper debates on issues that matter,” she said.

Mrs Teo cited the rise of anti-vaccination movements and conspiracy theories that have led to the emergence of populist movements worldwide.

Public information channels that aim to be quick and timely have been created to counter such misinformation, said Mrs Teo.

For example, during the pandemic, the authorities pushed out regular updates on official government websites and social media, such as the Gov.sg WhatsApp channel.

They also broadcast information through other traditional platforms such as print media, radio, television and display panels in housing blocks, she said, adding that information needed to be released quickly across various platforms before fake news takes root.

Trust was also forged in laws to protect citizens from harmful or misleading content, she added.

The proposed changes to the Broadcasting Act that will be debated in Parliament in November will require major social media platforms to implement measures to limit local users’ exposure to harmful content, such as the circulation of child pornography or content advocating suicide.

The Infocomm Media Development Authority will also be empowered to issue orders to block and remove egregious content online if it is accessed by local users on such platforms.

Mrs Teo said cybercrime and data breaches have also eroded trust in technology.

She urged data and system owners to make safety and security a key priority at the design stage of developing services, so that users are protected from the outset.

Panellists at an afternoon session titled Deep Dive On Tech: In Algorithms We Trust? moderated by Straits Times tech editor Irene Tham discussed algorithm bias, echo chambers and skill decay as artificial intelligence (AI) replaces roles at the workplace.

Head of group data office for OCBC Bank Donald MacDonald said it was challenging for developers to build algorithms that are impartial, as most companies are profit-driven.

He added that regulations are crucial as they guide firms to develop fairer algorithms, such as AI that explains to users how decisions are made.

Checklists to guard against racial or gender bias have been built into AI algorithms that approve mortgages and insurance at some banks, a sign that AI can be held to a higher level of accountability than human decision-making, said Mr MacDonald.

The panellists discussed public education about AI algorithms, with Google Cloud regional managing director Ruma Balasubramanian saying that it was on users to be educated consumers of AI.

While companies such as Google are responsible for how AI is used – prompting the tech giant to lay out its AI principles in a 2018 guide – governments also play a role in setting “guard rails” around tech issues to protect consumers, said Ms Ruma.

For tech columnist and science fiction author Stanley Chen, “abstract” language in tech is a key obstacle to educating users.

In spite of the challenges, the panellists said they were optimistic about the future of AI, and hoped that it would pave the way for a four-day work week.

Mr Chen said of his hopes regarding AI: “Something more imaginary... Maybe some day, we can understand what animals are talking about. I definitely think there’s some intelligence out there to bring their language (to life).”