SUBANG JAYA: Artificial Intelligence (AI) cannot function without human input and relying on it blindly could lead to embarrassing mistakes, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today.
He cited the case of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), which recently asked artificial intelligence programme ChatGPT to provide a Quranic verse to support a message.
The system produced text that appeared to resemble the Quran but was not authentic.
“It sounded like the Quran, read like the Quran, but it was not (from) the Quran.
“This was a major embarrassment. It shows that human ingenuity is needed to distinguish between values and mere technological output,” Anwar said when launching CelcomDigi Bhd’s CD:NXT programme at the CelcomDigi HubSubang Hi-tech Industrial Park in Subang Jaya today.
He reminded Malaysians that AI systems only regurgitate the information that is fed into them, which is why training young people with the right skills is critical.
“Who will provide the input? Our children, the ones we train. That is why I say the human element is essential, because sometimes these machines will simply reproduce what we put in, even if it is flawed.”
Anwar said global tech leaders he engaged with, including from Google, Nvidia, Infineon and Microsoft, had admitted that while AI systems are powerful, they are still insufficient when it comes to values, beliefs, and cultural foundations.
“They told me honestly: the technology is strong, but not enough.
Our role is to share the technology, but you must train your people. That is the real advantage,” he said.
He said that Malaysia must ensure AI and digital transformation address issues such as inequality and the digital divide, not just technological advancement.
The CD:NXT programme, CelcomDigi’s flagship initiative, will equip 5,000 youths with future-ready skills in AI, technology, data and analytics as part of Malaysia’s push towards a digital economy.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
