[SINGAPORE] The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has launched an artificial intelligence (AI) knowledge hub to help the city-state’s financial institutions strengthen their capabilities in the implementation of AI.
The resources of the hub, accessible to more than 80 financial institutions, include successful AI use cases curated by industry participants in key areas such as sales and marketing and customer operations, said National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat on Thursday (Oct 9).
“It also features learnings from pathfinder financial institutions that have successfully deployed AI in these areas,” said Chee, who is also MAS’ deputy chairman.
He was speaking as guest of honour at an evening gala and awards ceremony organised by the Institute of Banking and Finance Singapore (IBF) at Marina Bay Sands.
The knowledge hub is part of the Pathfin.ai programme, first announced in July by MAS managing director and IBF Council chairman Chia Der Jiun, who delivered the evening’s opening remarks.
Beyond peer learning, MAS will also “enhance the clarity” of its supervisory expectations on AI risk management, so that financial institutions can “experiment and innovate” with confidence, Chee said.
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To this end, the central bank will consult on a new set of supervisory guidelines on AI risk management later this year, after having received feedback from firms that “clearer” expectations would support their innovation efforts.
Ten pilot financial institutions, including DBS, HSBC, Manulife, OCBC and UOB, worked with MAS and IBF to “unpack” what AI adoption means for specific job roles.
Two key takeaways emerged from the pilots, Chee said. The first is that AI literacy – such as foundational skills like prompt design – needs to be “uplifted for all”. The second is that employees should be upskilled for role-specific AI adoption.
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He cited the example of the relationship managers in OCBC’s private banking arm, Bank of Singapore, who use an AI tool to draft source-of-wealth reports for clients – and they can do this job in one hour instead of 10 days.
Chee stressed: “We are not thinking of (using) AI to replace workers, but to augment our workers and to help our workers to do their jobs better.”
