Written Answer · 2026-09-10 · Parliament 15
Usage and Adoption of Voice-to-text, Speech Recognition and Multimodal AI Tools
Mr Edward Chia Bing Hui asked the Minister for Digital Development and Information whether the Government tracks usage and adoption rates of voice-to-text, speech recognition and multimodal AI tools, including Singapore-developed models such as SEA-LION and MERaLiON, among seniors accessing digital Government and community services, and if so, what the rates are. Minister Josephine Teo replied that the Government does not centrally track these adoption rates among seniors, as the capabilities are deployed across multiple platforms, services and devices. The Government has supported the development of SEA-LION and MERaLiON to build AI capabilities that better reflect Singapore's and Southeast Asia's linguistic and cultural context, and supports their use where they improve accessibility and service delivery. For example, MERaLiON's empathetic and multilingual speech capabilities power the AI voice assistants of Lions Befrienders, a Social Service Agency primarily serving seniors, helping caregivers understand seniors' needs better and provide more timely assistance.
Why it matters
The Government does not centrally track seniors' use of voice and multimodal AI tools, though MERaLiON already powers Lions Befrienders' AI voice assistants.
Key Points
- • Because the capabilities are deployed across multiple platforms, services and devices, the Government does not centrally track seniors' adoption rates of voice-to-text, speech recognition and multimodal AI tools.
- • The Government has supported the development of SEA-LION and MERaLiON to build AI capabilities that better reflect Singapore's and Southeast Asia's linguistic and cultural context.
- • The Government supports their use where they can improve accessibility and service delivery to enhance the lives of Singaporeans, including seniors.
- • MERaLiON's empathetic and multilingual speech capabilities are being used to power the AI voice assistants of Social Service Agency Lions Befrienders, engaging seniors in more natural conversations.
- • This helps caregivers understand seniors' needs better and provide more timely assistance.
The Government said it does not centrally track seniors' adoption of voice and multimodal AI tools, so it provided no figures. Its approach is to support the use of SEA-LION and MERaLiON where they improve accessibility and service delivery, citing Lions Befrienders' AI voice assistants as an example.
Questioner Mr Edward Chia asked whether the Government knows how far seniors using digital Government and community services have adopted voice and multimodal AI tools, including locally developed models, and at what rates.
Home-grown models SEA-LION and MERaLiON are moving from research into social service settings, but the absence of any central adoption metric shows that Singapore's inclusive-AI policy currently leans on showcase deployments rather than systematic measurement of outcomes.
"This helps caregivers understand seniors' needs better and provide more timely assistance."
Participants (2)
Original Text (English)
SPRS Hansard · Fetched: 2026-09-26
34 Mr Edward Chia Bing Hui asked the Minister for Digital Development and Information (a) whether the Government tracks the usage and adoption rates of voice-to-text, speech recognition and multimodal AI tools, including Singapore-developed models, such as the Southeast Asian Languages in One Network (SEA-LION) and Multimodal Empathetic Reasoning and Learning in One Network (MERaLiON), among seniors accessing digital Government and community services; and (b) if so, what are the current rates.
Mrs Josephine Teo : The Government does not centrally track the adoption rates of voice-to-text, speech recognition and multimodal artificial intelligence (AI) tools among seniors, as these capabilities are deployed across multiple platforms, services and devices.
The Government has supported the development of SEA-LION and MERaLiON to build AI capabilities that better reflect Singapore's and Southeast Asia's linguistic and cultural context. We support their use where they can improve accessibility and service delivery to enhance the lives of Singaporeans, including our seniors. For example, MERaLiON's empathetic and multilingual speech capabilities are being used to power the AI voice assistants of Lions Befrienders – a Social Service Agency primarily serving seniors – to engage seniors in more natural conversations. This helps caregivers understand seniors' needs better and provide more timely assistance.