The One About AI x Culture
How can AI help us preserve, revitalize, and reimagine our cultural heritage? From breathing new life into endangered languages to reconstructing lost historical landscapes, AI is opening up unprecedented possibilities for cultural preservation and revival. Join us as we explore applications of AI in Singapore's cultural landscape!
More About the Sharings
Kevin Martens Wong will share about Using AI for Cultural Revitalisation: Kristang as a Case Study. Learn how AI is supporting the revitalisation of the Creole-Indigenous Kristang culture and language indigenous to Singapore and wider Malaya. Explore how AI enhances the traditional Kristang practice of 'sunyeskah' or dreamfishing - the process by which new Kristang words and concepts are created and added to the culture. Discover how these AI-enhanced approaches are transforming the relationship between the Kristang community, its identity, and wider Singapore.
Amira Karim will present Reconstructing Pulau Brani: AI-Powered Heritage Visualization. Through the application of generative AI, computer vision, and 3D modeling technologies, learn more about how this project brings to life the lost villages and communities that once inhabited this historic island. Amira will demonstrate how AI algorithms could combine historical photographs, maps, and oral histories to create historically accurate virtual reconstructions. Experience how neural networks and computer vision analyze these historical records to generate detailed 3D models of the island's past landscape, complete with architectural details and environmental features, setting new standards for heritage preservation through immersive digital experiences.
More About the Speakers
Tuan Raja Naga Kevin Martens Wong Zhi Qiang is the thirteenth Kabesa, Cowboy of Heaven or Leader of the Creole/Indigenous Kristang people of Singapore, a Kristang Kapitang or Indigenous Elder, the Merlionsman, Dreamtiger and Teizensang, Gamechanger or Leader of the Loyal Indigenous of the Republic of Singapore, and the only teacher, most major living writer and one of the very few remaining native speakers of the critically endangered Kristang language in Singapore. He is also a linguist, archeoastronomer, futurist, educator and doctoral student at the National University of Singapore, a major twenty-first century, postcolonial, Creole, Indigenous, queer, Southeast Asian, Malayan and Singaporean (SingLit) thinker and philosopher, and an internationally-recognised novelist, poet, playwright, composer, game designer and body performance artist.
A descendent of Pulau Brani, Amira Karim works at the intersection of technology policy, economic development, and digital trade, spanning roles in the private sector, international organizations, and government. She leads Amazon’s public policy team for APAC, Europe, Middle East and Africa, focusing on digital financial services Previously, she led public policy for Asia Pacific at Stripe, supporting its expansion into emerging markets, and the World Bank where she advised on financial inclusion policies. Beyond tech and economic opportunity, she serves on the board of the Singapore Heritage Society and produced a documentary in 2024 on her family’s history on Pulau Brani. She is passionate about leveraging technology to advance heritage advocacy, ensuring cultural narratives remain accessible in an increasingly digital world.
Moderator: A Fulbright scholar with a Master's in Nonprofit Leadership and Management from the University of Southern California, Fauzy Ismail is the Executive Director of the Singapore Heritage Society (SHS). He has spent his career researching Singapore’s architecture and urban heritage. He completed his masters in architecture at the National University of Singapore, investigating heritage and thirdspaces in architecture, and dealt with gazetted buildings as a government conservation architect. He is a Trustee for the International National Trust Organisation and the Vice Chair of Southeast Asia Culture Heritage Alliance.
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