Article 1: Meet the Stem innovators enhancing Singapore's safety and security through science and technology
By Lin Jiasheng, April 18, 2023
Ms Koo Ley Ling's job sees her exploring armament capabilities and customising them for operational needs. PHOTO: HTX
Driven by a strong sense of purpose, two officers from HTX (Home Team Science and Technology Agency) harness their skills and knowledge in science and technology to empower the Home Team to combat threats of all sorts – from improving the shooting accuracy of weapons-carrying officers to protecting citizens’ data in the cloud.
Here, they share their experiences working at the agency rated as one of Singapore’s top employers in a list compiled by The Straits Times and global research firm Statista.
Thriving as a working mum in a traditionally male-dominated domain
Steady breathing, firm grip on the gun, eyes on the target… Ms Koo Ley Ling hit the target with her first shot as HTX’s head of ammunition and weapons systems, trialling new equipment for the Home Team. Currently with HTX’s Land Systems Centre of Expertise, Ley Ling joined the statutory board when it was founded in 2019 under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The agency’s mission is to use science and technology to exponentially enhance the Home Team’s operations to keep Singapore safe and secure.
In this particular proof-of-concept trial, Ley Ling was working on a new targeting technology to improve shooting accuracy for Home Team officers.
“In Singapore’s urban landscape, it may be difficult to achieve high accuracy for moving targets in such an operationally-challenging environment, even for a well-trained officer,” explains Ley Ling.
“Our team applies technology to reduce the cognitive workload so officers can get an accurate shot,” she says. Ley Ling’s job is not desk-bound. On any given day, she could be going to labs, manufacturing facilities or shooting ranges. “I explore the latest armament capabilities and test them to assess and customise the technologies for operational needs,” she explains.
To stay current, Ley Ling has also been taking relevant courses in coding and artificial intelligence (AI). Next year, she will embark on an HTX-sponsored master’s degree programme to support adoption of AI in her area of work.
An understanding workplace
Besides investing in their employees’ skills, HTX goes the extra mile to garner feedback from its staff. At a town hall meeting, the agency realised one of the landlord’s earlier policies of not allowing children in the office sometimes inconvenienced employees who are parents. Senior management took the feedback seriously and, after discussions with the landlord, the policy was relaxed for HTX.
As a mother of two, Ley Ling now has the option to bring her children to work if the need arises. She is also appreciative of her bosses’ understanding towards her family commitments. “They are supportive of flexible work schedules and trust me to prioritise my tasks and manage my time effectively,” she says. Although HTX has a flexible telecommute policy, Ley Ling confesses she prefers to come to the office. The HTX office in one-north boasts a vibrant design with its open spaces, interactive wall, social enterprise cafe, arcade machines, table soccer and even sleeping pods. However, it is not all fun and games at this agency tasked to sharpen the mission-effectiveness of the Home Team. “Our Home Team officers face everyday real threats and evolving future threats,” says Ley Ling. “We are responsible for finding deployable solutions so they can serve their mission and protect Singaporeans.”
Making a real-world difference with tech skills
Just months into his new job, engineering graduate Goh Yong Wee was assigned an ambitious new project to use natural language processing, a branch of machine-learning technology, to help Singapore Police Force (SPF) officers prioritise their caseload.
“I was doubtful at first because you may get good theoretical results in machine-learning models, but they may not translate to relevant use,” says Yong Wee. However, a test trial on a duty officer’s shift proved the model’s effectiveness in real life. “The police officers found the program useful and wanted to integrate it into their system immediately,” he recalls. “I remember feeling validated and thinking, ‘Wow, this is what I came to HTX for, to make a real-world difference.'"
Diversified work experience
The case management program was one of Yong Wee’s projects in the intelligence and cyber security unit of the department known as “Q Team”, named after the innovative gadget-makers of the James Bond franchise.
In addition, under the HTX Science & Technology (S&T) Associate Programme designed to provide science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) practitioners with diverse work experience and different skill sets in forensics, robotics, data science, and other areas, Yong Wee was also part of the organising team for TechXplore, an internal exhibition which showcased HTX’s work from different departments.
“The Associate Programme allowed me to benefit from the many opportunities of cross-divisional work,” says Yong Wee, who has now been with HTX for over three years.
Yong Wee was rotated at the end of his second year and is currently with the xCloud Enterprise Group implementing cloud computing solutions for HTX. His current role as a site reliability engineer involves the upkeep of the digital infrastructure supporting the Home Team’s various operations, from public-facing websites like the SPF and ICA websites to internal Home Team networks and digital resources.
Open, egalitarian work culture
Yong Wee initially expected HTX’s culture to be more hierarchical and rigid. “To my surprise, I found that HTX is a very open and easy-going workplace,” he says, of the agency which has been ranked among the top employers of Singapore, according to global research firm Statista in collaboration with The Straits Times. Yong Wee cherishes camaraderie with his co-workers and is also grateful for the guidance of senior colleagues who, despite their busy schedules, patiently walked him through HTX’s cloud architecture so he could understand the concepts better. “I love that HTX’s work culture is trust-based; our supervisors trust us to manage our work well and deliver results,” says Yong Wee.
Questions to ponder:
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STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Which aspect(s) of STEM appeal to you the most?
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How do you think your future pursuit of a STEM career can help to contribute to Singapore? (Google ‘STEM careers Singapore’ to explore more.
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Do you have the thinking that women should not be involved in STEM careers? Do you know that women also have some very outstanding careers in STEM? Google to find out more.
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STEAM (addition of ‘A’ which stands for the Arts) has in recent years taken some limelight away from STEM. Basically, it means that soft skills such as creativity and critical thinking are important components that should not be left out in the workplace. How do you think such skills can help?
Article 2: What Students Are Saying About ChatGPT
Is this new chatbot the end of education as we know it? Or a useful new tool for learning? Teenagers weigh in.
By The Learning Network
Feb. 2, 2023
By now you’ve probably heard of ChatGPT, a powerful new artificial intelligence chatbot released to the public late last year that can craft jokes and working computer code, guess at medical diagnoses, and create text-based Harry Potter games.
And, yes, it can also write essays and solve problem sets, a fact that has “sent many educators into a panic,” notes Kevin Roose, a Times Tech columnist. Some school districts have already banned this new technology; others are attempting to teach students how to use it responsibly.
We invited teenagers to read Mr. Roose’s column and then tell us how they thought schools should respond to ChatGPT. Many came to the conclusion that the chatbot was a mighty, if at times unreliable, tool. Some worried that ChatGPT would rob them of their motivation, creativity and critical thinking; others that it would lead to widespread cheating. But several teenagers argued that A.I. is the future, and schools should embrace it rather than restrict it. At least one student thought all of this was an overreaction: “Everyone needs to chill out!” she wrote. “ChatGPT is certainly not the end of the world, nor the eradication of writing as a whole.”
ChatGPT is a powerful, if imperfect, tool.
My ninong recommended using ChatGPT, so I gave it a try. It was very powerful (it can write a sonnet about admission to Harvard, which I requested for fun) but inaccurate. Sometimes, ChatGPT kept changing its answers when I asked it the same question over and over. Nevertheless, I have never used it to answer my schoolwork or write my essays (I like to write, so I do that myself).
I have never used ChatGPT, but I have used similar chatbots purely for exploration. When I used these chatbots I came to the conclusion that they aren’t very good at writing papers for the fact that they are very brief and often lack the level of knowledge required to write a paper on a certain topic. When you type in a prompt they just use very brief, filler words to write your response rather than actually use educated terms. I think the concept is decent but it needs to be very much advanced upon before it can be used frequently.
— Will, Saint Peter High School, MN
Personally yes, I used and experimented with ChatGPT and it is extremely useful for assignments. Not just because it answers all of your questions that you ask, but it completely destroys the use of tutors. However, it should be noted that it can be used productively but unethically because it is easier to cheat and just copy whatever the AI is providing.
ChatGPT is much less developed than the article here suggests. The AI uses language and sentence structure that a middle schooler would use. It could be a good inspiration tool for students who lack ideas for an essay and it could also be used in a way to teach students the proper essay structure and many more key basic things.
Some think A.I. has no place in education because it inhibits learning …
In almost all classes in school, ChatGPT should not be used. As it continues to get better and better, ChatGPT will be doing work that the student should do for them. For example, I could instead of writing this myself just have ChatGPT write this for me. How will teachers be able to know for sure that their students are actually learning what they think they are or is it just a robot doing their work for them? Students who do not use A.I. will also be affected. Instead of their lessons being centered around what mistakes the students actually make they will be based on what ChatGPT or another A.I. does.
— Henry, Glenbard West High School
I think schools should have ChatGPT blocked because it ruins the whole idea of schools. If you want to learn about something related to the assignment then you should probably resort to asking the teacher. The teacher is way more reliable than any internet source. ChatGPT can be helpful when you’re outside of school, on weekends and/or on summer break. It’s also important to know how to use real books and not always rely on the internet.
— Tim, Hinsdale Central High School
… and robs students of the motivation to do their work.
I personally believe that the use of chatbots and AI in school is dangerous for motivation and knowledge. Why write if a bot does it for me? Why learn when a bot does it better? I find this similar to the lack of motivation faced in math classes across the world when the portable calculator was invented and it is plausible that the same can happen in English classes if this AI is used; kids (especially high schoolers/teens) would love to generate their challenging assignments … Quite frankly I am terrified of ChatGPT’s growth among the younger generations, mainly for the intelligence and motivation of the kids, but also for the future of English as an art and skill to be learned, not generated.
— Jonathan, PACE High School, TX
Essentially the program is a cheat code for writing essays because all you have to do is insert a scenario and it will write for you. I think it is a bad thing for schools since students can become underdeveloped in their literacy skills — writing stories or essays — and would give people no incentive to learn and that would lead to them becoming lazy. In addition this is unfair to the teachers since they wouldn’t know if a student is cheating and they would essentially be grading an AI’s work instead of an actual humans.
— Sergio, Glenbard West High School
Students worry we’ll lose our creativity and critical thinking skills if we rely on chatbots.
One of my biggest worries is that I would rely too much on these tools and lose the capacity for critical and creative thought. I personally want to learn how to communicate myself clearly and to find my own distinctive voice. If I always rely on ChatGPT to generate material for me, I might not be challenged to improve as a writer. I’m also concerned that the information produced by ChatGPT might not be reliable or secure. As a student, I want to be able to trust the knowledge I’m gaining and avoid coming into contact with false information or damaging viewpoints.
— Faris, Hinsdale Central High School
A student’s use of generative AI to accomplish writing assignments is entirely counterproductive to the goals of an English class. As a receiver of the average American education, every English class I’ve been in has emphasized the importance of writing as a means of thinking. Indeed, to produce engaging and persuasive writing, students must learn how to research to understand a topic, thoughtfully take a position, and organize the information to be consumed. In English classes, students not only learn the grammar behind writing but also learn to become effective communicators. Communicators are how society learns to understand one another and share ideas that can help develop and change minds.
Others believe A.I. is the future and students need to get familiar with technology they’ll inevitably use someday.
It would be very unreasonable to students if their schools completely banned the tool of writing AIs. The reality is that these kids will be experiencing these AIs as they grow older, so the schools should introduce them to the students at a young age. As these students grow older and begin to work in the world, ChatGPT and other online writing AIs will be taking over. If these students are never taught about, and never learn how to operate ChatGPT in their schools, they will be unprepared for their life ahead, which will be filled with writing AIs.
They said ChatGPT can actually aid learning.
I have used ChatGPT a number of times to test its capabilities. I was very impressed with its ability to write essays, including essays using sources. I understand that this would not necessarily be ideal for a school environment where students are meant to create their own essays and develop writing skills by doing so. However, it can also be used to give essay outlines, which I could see as being incredibly helpful for students. It also provides accurate information on historical situations, which allows for easy access to a reliable source for students.
— Rachel, Atrisco Heritage Academy
I’ve had experience using ChatGPT before and it’s been really helpful for me: When using it for personal questions, joke questions, or help on school assignments, it helps me gather research or understand the topic a lot better and faster … I also find it fun to experiment with, especially as a programmer. It’s given me new ideas and ways to think about code. However, I do think it’s important to fact check what it tells you since it’s not always accurate.
— Grange, Glenbard West High School
ChatGPT doesn’t allow for an accurate assessment of understanding. But when used on homework, something usually meant for learning and practice, it can allow a student to more clearly grasp the subject. If a student needs to look up an answer anyway, is it not far better to have a more convenient option that also very clearly explains the concept? So when it’s assumed to be nothing more than a newer, better calculator, ChatGPT can hinder the assessment of prior learning. But when used as a learning and reinforcement tool itself, it can provide a wealth of otherwise inaccessible knowledge.
— Zac, Miami Country Day School, Florida
And that teachers should embrace this new technology …
If I was in charge of setting the rules regarding ChatGPT, I would try and make teachers implement the A.I. into their work, to allow students the ability to learn how to work alongside an A.I. and so that they won’t be tempted to cheat later on. Students have a lesser chance using ChatGPT to cheat when it’s not forbidden and is actually allowed.
People should look further into what ChatGPT can actually do because this artificial intelligence bot can do some pretty cool things. Some teachers can use this technology for making personal lesson plans for students so that they can be more successful. Or some teachers can use it to give highly detailed feedback on a student’s work.
— Sophia, Hinsdale Central High School
A teacher at my school recently asked her class to use ChatGPT to write papers on the novel they were reading in class. The students also wrote their own papers, and compared the results. I found this teaching method to be extremely accommodating and productive. Rather than framing ChatGPT as a way to cheat, and therefore encouraging students to secretly use the forbidden program, teachers can show their students how to use it to their advantage, while still keeping their own original ideas. In today’s world, technology is quickly becoming more intelligent, but I don’t think we have to fear it.
… while setting boundaries around how to use it.
Students can use ChatGPT to learn about new things, improve their vocabulary, and continue their learning when the teacher isn’t always there to help them. However, I do think its usage needs to be monitored very carefully, as students who use it as a way to get out of their work will end up falling behind in the classroom.
An easy tactic for schools to avoid the mess which is deciding whether to embrace or drop AI is to mandate hand-written, done-in-class assignments. This would help students develop handwriting (which is atrocious), quick thinking (as we will have a limited time to write), and fight back against procrastination.
— John, Northwest High School, Germantown, MD
I think that programs like ChatGPT are going to force teachers to change the way they assign homework. Doing more homework in class and less at home activities might help deter using AI generated work … doing more assignments that require students to talk and collaborate with other students will help counteract this.
Perhaps, though, our fears are overblown.
In my personal opinion, as a student who excels in English, (and who has never used ChatGPT in my life) I assert, to put it frankly, everyone needs to chill out! ChatGPT is certainly not the end of the world, nor the eradication of writing as a whole. Nearly all ChatGPT essays pass plagiarism tests, however, every ChatGPT fails the AI writing detection tests. Every. Single. Time. So I offer a simple solution: if you’re a teacher, after checking for plagiarism, copy and paste the essay into an AI writing detection test. It’s as simple as writing an essay with ChatGPT.
Questions to ponder:
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Have you used ChatGPT in your learning? What are views about such a tool?
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Just as fire can be a good servant but a bad master, what are some guidelines you should follow when using ChatGPT as a good servant to help you in your learning?
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What are some areas of learning you would like ChatGPT to help you in? How useful has it been to helping you learn?
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How do you think ChatGPT will change the society you live in?