SINGAPORE’S updated national artificial intelligence (AI) strategy, launched last December, marks a subtle but significant shift from the heavier industrial tone of its 2019 predecessor.

The latest report highlights the need to “steer AI for the public good”, using it for economic and social betterment. Much of the focus is on steering it towards positive applications, from public-service productivity to industry transformation.

However, the report is less concrete about the other half of what it means to steer AI: steering it away from harmful uses.