Industry partners have welcomed Singapore’s artificial intelligence (AI) governance testing framework and toolkit, AI Verify, announced by Singapore’s Minister for Communications and Information Mrs Josephine Teo at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos.
Developed by the Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA) and the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC), AI Verify, which is currently a minimum viable product (MVP), is for system developers and owners who want to be more transparent about the performance of their AI systems.
AI Verify allows developers and owners to verify the claimed performance of their AI systems against a set of principles through standardised tests.
It packages a set of open-source testing solutions together, including a set of process checks into a toolkit for convenient self-assessment.
The toolkit generates reports for developers, management, and business partners, covering major areas affecting AI performance.
Improving transparency
Teo said AI Verify is “the world’s first product to demonstrate responsible AI in an objective and verifiable manner."
The minister said Singapore invites industry partners “from all around the world to join us in this pilot and contribute to building international standards in AI governance”.
Developed under the guidance of the Advisory Council on the Ethical Use of AI and Data, 10 companies from different sectors and of different scales, have already tested and/or provided feedback.
The companies are AWS, DBS Bank, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Singapore Airlines, NCS (Part of Singtel Group), Land Transport Authority, Standard Chartered Bank, UCARE.AI, and X0PA.AI.
DBS Bank’s CEO, Piyush Gupta, said Singapore’s regulators like IMDA have “ambitiously moved beyond high-level principles and guidelines towards developing frameworks and toolkits; to provide increased capability to organisations to better manage and govern their AI-based solutions”.
AWS’ Asean MD for public sector, Eric Conrad added: “We are happy to have contributed to… AI Verify, which will help AI systems developers and owners on their journey to adopt best practices, accelerate research, and continue to responsibly develop AI and ML (machine learning) technology.
Temasek International’s deputy CEO, Chia Song Hwee, said rapid digitisation has led to a proliferation of data and improved algorithms.
“As companies across sectors continue to innovate, this toolkit will enable them to turn concepts of responsible and trustworthy AI into practical applications that will benefit all stakeholders, from business owners to end-users,” Chia said.
Continuation
The launch of AI Verify is a continuation of Singapore’s contribution to the international discourse on AI ethics and governance since 2018.
In 2020, Singapore launched its Model AI Governance Framework (second edition) in Davos.
This followed the National AI Strategy in November 2019.
IMDA said AI Verify is Singapore’s next step in helping companies be more transparent about their AI products and services, to build trust with their stakeholders, IMDA said in a statement.
