Singapore to test autonomous AI agents for delivery of public services

SINGAPORE – Citizens applying for business licences or social workers going through paperwork for aid here might soon be tapping the help of artificial intelligence (AI) agents.

The Government is experimenting with these sophisticated digital assistants that are capable of reasoning, planning and acting on a user’s behalf.

Unlike traditional software, they can learn and operate autonomously, completing complex tasks that would typically require human intervention.

These uses were painted by Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo on Aug 28 while announcing the creation of a new group to experiment with deploying AI agents for public services. She is also Minister-in-charge of Cybersecurity and Smart Nation Group.

“We can imagine introducing AI agents to help improve public services,” she said, addressing about 1,000 guests at a Google Cloud conference at Marina Bay Sands.

“For example, businesses are sometimes confused by the multiple agencies they must deal with to get licences approved. They may call each department or check many websites to figure out the right order of proceedings. When inspections are required, there is the added challenge of making appointments. Workflows like these could do with the help of an intelligent assistant.”

Social services workers can also tap these agents to help their clients navigate through paperwork for aid, she added.

“An intelligent assistant could help social workers provide basic guidance to their clients, such as in meeting administrative requirements. This could free up social workers’ time to focus on more impactful activities like counselling and developing.”

Mrs Teo noted that even as it works to unlock the benefits of this nascent technology, the Government is also prioritising safety, authority and accountability.

The group trialling AI agents for public service use comprises the Government Technology Agency (GovTech), the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore and the Infocomm Media Development Authority.

It will, with Google’s help and tools, evaluate the outcomes and go on to make recommendations for the use of autonomous AI agents in Singapore.

Mrs Teo said: “As with all emerging technologies, the Government believes we need first to understand how they work and why mistakes happen... What permissions should agents be given? When should humans be in the loop? If things do not go as expected, who should be held accountable?”

At the conference, Google Cloud also announced new local access to its AI model for both the public sector and businesses. This means that organisations would no longer have to send data to a large language model based overseas for training or queries.

Instead, the model will be built and located within Singapore, allowing organisations holding sensitive data, such as economic and health records that cannot be exported outside of Singapore, to develop and train AI agents.

Mr Goh Wei Boon, chief executive of GovTech Singapore, said: “We care a lot about where the data goes when we deliver digital services. For instance, it needs to be rested in Singapore.

“We don’t want to send our data to any services all over the world, or to any platform all over the world.”

GovTech, which leads the digitalisation of citizen services, is using Google’s AI model on the agency’s own secure systems that are not connected to the internet.

Mr Goh said: “It allows us to be able to do processing for highly sensitive systems in a specific data centre within our control.”

Running AI models internally lets businesses – such as banks and hospitals – that are dealing with proprietary or sensitive data use AI services securely and with almost no lag time. Fast-food giant McDonald’s is one such customer.