Straits Interactive and the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME) have announced the winners of Singapore’s inaugural National AI Prompt Design Challenge, which includes SMEs, an educational institution, and a trade association.
The awards were presented during the Singapore International Cyber Week, which was hosted by the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore as part of the SG Cyber Safe for Enterprises programme.
Tan Kiat How, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Digital Development and Information, and Senior Minister of State, Ministry of National Development Singapore, attended the ceremony and presented the prizes to the winners.
The National AI Prompt Challenge, co-organised with programme partners SMU Academy and AI Verify Foundation and supported by IMDA, CSA, and various trade associations, aimed to AI-enable organisations, particularly SMEs, by enhancing their generative AI capabilities, without the need for coding.
Held from 9 to 11 September 2024, the Challenge received 102 entries from various sectors, including government, education, professional services, and IT. Participating teams attended a three-hour boot camp to acquire the knowledge to define a problem statement and then developed a generative AI app powered by a large language model of their choice on Straits Interactive’s Capabara platform.
“One of the key objectives of the AI Prompt competition is to AI-enable organisations and their departments, especially SMEs, with little or zero knowledge of generative AI,” said Straits Interactive Founder and CEO Kevin Shepherdson. “By enabling generative AI capabilities for those with domain expertise without the need for coding, we aim to enhance business productivity and learning, supporting the National AI Strategy 2.0. Additionally, organisations learnt that it is crucial to be aware of AI risks and be able to address adversarial prompts.”
“SMEs need to continue developing and innovating and be wary not to become passive consumers of these technologies,” said Ang Yuit, President of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises. “As this competition has shown, it is possible to be innovative and create value beyond just adoption of tools like ChatGPT – and that is an important spirit to maintain for SMEs in Singapore.”
Winners were selected based on criteria such as functionality, user experience, innovation, benefit and potential, and security and ethical standards. The winners were:
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First place: Team Kookaburra from Focus on the Family Singapore for their AI-driven chatbot, the Virtual Parenting Companion, which provides real-time, personalised parenting support.
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Second place: Team Level 5 from Singapore Institute of Technology for their AI tool, Reviewer #2, which analyses grant proposals.
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Third place: Team DORS from Singapore Fashion Council for their AI-powered On-the-Job Training program, Design Orchard Brand & Product Training.
The Challenge also recognised innovative and responsible AI solutions, awarding Team AI Artisans from Oracle Corporation the Most Innovative prize for their plant health monitoring app, MyPhytoGuard, and Team NSIT from NSIT Training the Most Responsible and Safe Award for their AI chatbot, Techie, which enhances IT support services.
“The fact that any professional or organisation can create an app using generative AI tools to augment their roles and responsibilities is a testament to the importance of developing such competencies,” said Chief Judge and AI Verify Foundation Manager Harish Pillay. “It is important for organisations to motivate, encourage and empower their associates with AI skills while simultaneously emphasising the importance of responsible and ethical AI practices.”
Meanwhile, the organisers and the judging committee will be putting together a report to share their findings and competencies needed by SMEs, based on the submissions during the Challenge.
