Creador founder and CEO Brahmal Vasudevan
KUALA LUMPUR: People are at the heart of how to build a trustworthy and secure artificial intelligence (AI) network intersecting business, society and technology, say panellists at the Future Tech Forum organised by the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Institute for People and Technology.
This year’s forum focused on innovations, opportunities and advancements associated with human-centred AI, sustainable data centres, and digital trust and security.
The forum included the final judging for the Convergence Innovation Competition Asia showcasing teams from across Asia competing to bring viable and innovative ideas that can solve global challenges.
Brahmal Vasudevan, founder of private equity firm Creador Sdn Bhd, said in his welcome speech “that Asia’s innovation story is a shared story and that its next chapter will be written by the trust we place in young minds,” he noted, adding that besides competing, the finalists of the competition were there to listen, question and learn from one another.
“When technology converges, new possibilities open up,” Brahmal said, pointing to the Creador Foundation’s philosophy that technology must serve humanity and that its work “is about building pathways so people can participate fully in a rapidly changing world”.
“I hope we keep a bigger journey in mind.
“A journey where academia, industry, government, and philanthropy work side-by-side, so young people across Asia can step into the future with clarity, courage, and a sense of ownership,” he said.
At the forum’s fireside chat, Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo shared his insights on how the government has taken a holistic approach to AI adoption, which includes building an ecosystem for digital adoption.
“Connectivity is core, we’ve got that push for 5G, I think we’ve done quite well,” he said.
Gobind sees the investments into data centres for cloud computing as important for the economy but worries about the number of resources to run them.
“You want to create an ecosystem that’s sustainable, not just something that’s going to be used for five years.
“You’ve got to think about what happens in the next cycle, new technology, over the next 10 years to 20 years, if you don’t have enough energy then it will not be sustainable,” he added.
Gobind said a country’s reliance on AI must be buttressed by law, policies and strategies that would assist not only in the investment cycle but also support the ecosystem in building trust and security while being ready for the rapid changes taking place in the AI space and technology in general.
For him, building people’s trust means a set of basic enforceable standards for a secure AI infrastructure that cuts across business and society.
He stressed that the ecosystem would need talent, and that the government has been confronting this issue of reskilling and upskilling.
Job creation and the impact of AI remain the worry of governments around the world, including Malaysia’s.
“How do you make sure that after you have a trusted ecosystem that can empower relations where everyone comes together?
There has to be talent, there has to be awareness, you need to have institutions that can think about how you change how people adapt, how people adopt,” Gobind said.
