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Source: Global Times

[Global Times special correspondent in Singapore Xin Bin] The Singapore Ministry of Finance tried to use artificial intelligence (AI) to generate local family photos to promote government assistance programs and services, but it unexpectedly caused controversy locally. The new Ministry of Finance responded on July 31 that it would listen to feedback and make improvements.

According to Singapore Channel 8 News on July 31, the controversy was sparked by three posts published by the Ministry of Finance on social platforms from July 9 to 11, which introduced how different families living in public housing estates benefited from this year's fiscal budget. Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao published AI-generated pictures attached to each post, which were two families of four and an elderly couple. The pictures were marked with the description "generated by AI" in the lower right corner, but they still triggered mixed comments from local netizens. Some netizens did not understand why the Ministry of Finance did not use real photos. Some netizens described these pictures as "horrifying" and "disturbing", and some even said that these pictures "look like scam ads."

However, some netizens said they could accept the new attempt of the Ministry of Finance. Some netizens speculated whether this move was because AI could save money. Other netizens suggested that the government hire local photography and creative talents to make maps. Some netizens even took photos in the same style as the above AI pictures and uploaded them to the Internet, which were sought after, saying that this was a "good attempt" and more realistic than the original. On July 31, local resident Rita told the Global Times' special correspondent in Singapore that "generative AI provides unlimited possibilities, but it also prompts people to think about where the boundaries of reality are."

A spokesperson for the new Ministry of Finance explained on July 31 that the Ministry of Finance will use various social platforms to raise awareness of various assistance measures among local people and families. In the process, the Ministry of Finance used different visual effects, including photos and videos, to match the posts to cater to the different audiences of each social media platform. The Ministry of Finance is trying AI to explore another set of visual effects based on the visual images produced by designers.