SINGAPORE, Sept 22 —Singapore has joined international leaders in calling for stronger safeguards for frontier artificial intelligence (AI) models amid their rapid development and the serious risks they could pose if not properly managed.

Its Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said AI holds tremendous promise, but it must remain under human control and oversight.

“We want to harness AI effectively to benefit Singapore and our people. But as AI becomes more powerful, we must also guard against the risks.

“And because these risks cross borders, effective safeguards will require international cooperation,” he said in his Facebook post today.

Wong said Singapore supported the joint statement on AI safety initiated by Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, together with leaders from around the world.

“We must continue to find practical ways to build common ground and bring more countries along,” he added.

A total of 22 world leaders jointly endorsed the joint statement issued on Monday, which welcomed the recently launched initiatives aimed at managing risks associated with frontier technologies.

The joint statement called companies to develop transparent safety protocols, including mandatory pre-deployment testing and independent evaluations with qualified evaluators granted sufficient access to assess risks. 

It also urged governments and regional organisations to further develop and coordinate common standards, strengthen transparency - including shared reporting of serious safety incidents - and ensure that countries across all regions have access to scientific capacity, expertise and trusted evaluation.

The statement further called on United Nation (UN) member states to build on existing international mechanisms and explore creating an international institution, able to set standards, enable verification, and convene states when capability thresholds are crossed. — Bernama