SINGAPORE, May 21 — Singapore is in talks with technology companies about attaching “nutrition labels” to AI products, designating their intended uses and limitations, a senior minister said yesterday.

“We may start with a voluntary framework, and then in time ... we’ll see how effective these kinds of labels are before deciding to take the next step,” digital development and information minister Josephine Teo told Reuters in an interview.

The labels, which would be a global first, would apply to consumer applications with AI features, similar to food or medicine labels. She said they would indicate the “right ways” and “not-so-correct ways” of using AI.

The minister, who was speaking on the sidelines of the Asia Tech x Singapore Summit, said Singapore is also developing testing frameworks and accrediting organisations to evaluate AI products.

The country has emerged as a neutral ground for the AI sector, popular with both US and Chinese startups.

Singapore announced yesterday that it would host OpenAI’s first Applied AI Lab outside the United States, with an investment of more than US$234 million (RM928.8 million).

At the same time, Google DeepMind announced a partnership with Singapore covering education, healthcare and scientific research after opening a new AI lab in the country in November.

Teo said at the ATX summit that Singapore wants to support 10,000 firms with AI adoption and expand usage across the manufacturing, healthcare and finance sectors.

She identified the city-state’s semiconductor equipment manufacturing, which accounts for 20 per cent of global supply, as a key asset to build an AI hub.

She said Singapore is also investing in energy-efficient AI research at the chip and algorithm level to address power constraints.

Teo was speaking ahead of talks she and digital ministers from other Asean member states will hold with US Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg.

Representatives from China are also attending the summit, which has become a rare forum where policymakers from both the United States and China regularly meet. — Reuters

When it comes to superheroes, animation is an unrivaled art form. Often, through this imaginative and almost unlimited medium, concepts and characters can be realized far better than in live-action performances. These 2D masterpieces also give highly skilled animators a chance to shine and studios an opportunity to deliver exciting projects to audiences in an interesting way.

Exhibit Of Interest: Mick Stevens to Show Work On Martha’s Vineyard 

Mick Stevens, who began contributing to The New Yorker in December of 1979, tells the Spill that:

“There’s a show of a dozen or so of my older original New Yorker drawings here at The Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse in Vineyard Haven. The show will run for the entire month of May. The artist will be lurking there from time to time.”

Here’s a personal fave New Yorker drawing by Mr. Stevens (not sure this will be included in the exhibit) :

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Some Stevens Cartoon Collections…

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A New Yorker State Of Mind Looks At The Issue Of April 18, 1936

Such fun New Yorker time traveling via the weekly New Yorker State of Mind posts.

This week: the issue of April 18, 1936.

Read it here!

Cover by the one-and-only Rea Irvin.

A New Yorker State Of Mind Digs Into The Issue Of April 11, 1936

A New Yorker State Of Mind: Reading Every Issue Of The New Yorker: always fun, always interesting reading.

This week: the issue of April 11, 1936. Read it here. 

Cover by Helen Hokinson.

Her A-Z Entry:

Helen Hokinson (above) Born, Illinois,1893; died, Washington, D.C., 1949. New Yorker work: 1925 -1949, with some work published posthumously. All of Hokinson’s collections are wonderful, but here are two favorites. Her first collection: So You’re Going To Buy A Book! (Minton, Balch & Co, 1931) and what was billed as “the final Hokinson collection”: The Hokinson Festival (Dutton & Co., 1956). According to a New Yorker document produced during Harold Ross’s editorship (1925-1951) rating their artists, Ms. Hokinson and Peter Arno occupied a special category unto themselves above all others.

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Eudaemonius posted a photo:

Changes in neural connections due to substance use and withdrawal are long-lasting, and craving can peak well into abstinence. Understanding this process could inspire drugs to support recovery.

What the science of self-awareness can tell us about confident decision-making

As more adults cut off their parents, a researcher calls for closer scrutiny of causes and effects, and suggests paths to reconciliation