How will technology make our lives better or worse in the next ten years?
How then should Singapore ensure its national security
amidst these evolving threats?
Singapore created the CSA in 2015 to oversee national cybersecurity strategy, coordinate responses to cyber threats, work closely with critical infrastructure sectors to enhance resilience against cyber attacks.
With the invention of AI art, will artist no longer have ownership of their own
work?
lack of laws protecting digital assets
What are some ethical concerns arising from the use of future tech and how can
such concerns be addressed?
Privacy and Data Security
AI-powered diagnostic tools, such as IBM's Watson for Oncology or Google's DeepMind Health, analyze medical data to assist doctors in diagnosing diseases more accurately and recommending personalized treatment plans.
Future technology
Genome editing
VR/AR
AI
IoT
Machine Learning
Healthcare
Information and security
Military
Disruption
Destruction
Hospital care, transport, powergrid
Establish dominance in outerspace
War/escalate ongoing conflict
espionage
non-invasive abnormality detection
exploitation
Lifespan prediction
Provides a tool for detection of asymptomatic and dormant illnesses
Suits a larger group of people
Automation
efficient
High Accuracy
Used to suggest amendments to lifestyle habits
loopholes in AI systems
Cyberattacks
Deepfake
Film creation
Hard to distinguish real information
Easier manipulation of targets to leak data
Generative AI
Visual arts
Benefits
Opens up new possbilities
Expands beyond the traditional art creation
Negative
Lacks creative and artistic depth
Copyright
Data Training
Ownership
Imported training material
Pattern recognition
Warning apps
Understanding routines/habits
Greater sense of familarity
Elderly/children monitoring of abnormal behaviour
Replacing defective genes with healthy ones
Accurate, fast, cheap
Reduces disorders and inherited diseases
The process of screening - delivery, checkups, medical personell adds up to a hefty price
Ethical concerns
In-vitro fertilisation
Improves the birthrate
Contributes to the economy by increasing the number of people workforce and replacing old people
Identifying algorithms
Strike down false information and amend mistakes
Offers simulations to train emergency response personell
Brings gaming to the next level - immerse oneself
Often neglect the real world
AI bias
Autonomous Weapons and Warfare
Technologies like AI and IoT (Internet of Things) collect vast amounts of personal data, raising concerns about privacy breaches and data misuse.
Implementing robust data protection regulations (e.g., GDPR),
ensuring transparent data collection practices
providing users with control over their data through informed consent mechanisms
developing secure encryption methods
In 2018, Facebook faced a massive data breach scandal involving Cambridge Analytica, where personal data from millions of users was harvested without their consent.
GM crops
AI systems can inherit biases from their training data, leading to unfair outcomes in decision-making processes (e.g., hiring, loan approvals)
Solutions
Employing diverse and representative datasets for training AI models
conducting regular audits to detect and mitigate biases
Amazon's AI-powered recruiting tool, developed to streamline the hiring process, was found to exhibit bias against female candidates. The system had been trained on historical resumes, which were predominantly from male applicants, leading to an algorithmic bias against resumes that included terms associated with women.
Advocating for international agreements (similar to the ban on chemical weapons)
implementing strict regulations to ensure human oversight and accountability in the use of autonomous weapons :
Advances in biotechnology, such as gene editing (e.g., CRISPR), raise ethical dilemmas regarding consent, enhancement vs. therapy, and potential unintended consequences.
Solutions
Establishing clear ethical guidelines and regulatory frameworks for biotechnological research and applications
rigorous ethical reviews of research proposals
The development and application of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology have sparked ethical debates. In 2018, Chinese scientist Dr. He Jiankui controversially used CRISPR to genetically modify human embryos, resulting in the birth of twin girls with edited genomes.
Singapore is part of the FPDA, a defense pact with Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. This alliance enhances regional security cooperation through joint military exercises and intelligence sharing.
Fully autonomous cars could reduce traffic accidents, improve traffic flow, and provide mobility solutions for elderly and disabled individuals, enhancing overall transportation efficiency and safety.
The adoption of robotics and AI in manufacturing industries, like those seen in factories operated by companies such as Foxconn and Amazon, has led to job losses for manual laborers.
Advancements in solar and wind energy technologies, coupled with energy storage solutions like Tesla's Powerwall, could accelerate the adoption of renewable energy sources.
This could reduce dependence on fossil fuels
mitigate climate change impacts
promote sustainable development globally
propose new frameworks to recognize collaborative authorship between humans and AI or grant AI-generated works a separate category of intellectual property.
More nutritious food
Increase in vitamin and minerals
Reduces farming costs
Reduced biodiversity
Long-term sustainability
Adverse impact on small farmers
Creation of superweed