While Southeast Asia’s cultural diversity is one of its strengths, navigating its many languages can be unwieldy for businesses looking to operate across multiple markets in the region.
That was one of the issues faced by HD, a healthcare and surgery marketplace with operations in Thailand and Indonesia. On its HDMall platform, which offers outpatient and inpatient healthcare services, 30% of transactions are processed through chat commerce. The firm needed to find a solution that could answer customer queries not just in English but also in local languages like Bahasa Indonesia.
To overcome this issue, the company is experimenting with a novel solution: generative AI. By leveraging OpenAI’s GPT-4 model – the technology behind the popular ChatGPT – HD hopes to use the tech to facilitate and streamline communication with customers across different languages.
HD is not the only Southeast Asian business trying to harness generative AI, which has taken the world by storm. While the tech as we know it today has been around since 2014, its popularity skyrocketed with the launch of ChatGPT back in November 2022.
For Southeast Asia in particular, generative AI’s arrival signals many good things to come.
The AI hype in Southeast Asia
Within the region, excitement around AI has been building as companies explore its potential to increase productivity. In Vietnam, for example, ChatGPT fever has resulted in dozens of Facebook groups devoted to the tech.
By 2030, AI is predicted to add almost US$1 trillion to Southeast Asia’s overall GDP.
While it’s hard to say how much of that uplift will come from generative AI, its contribution seems promising given the opportunities it presents for the region.
“AI is a defining technology for our time,” says Ahmad Mazhari, president of tech conglomerate Microsoft’s Asia operations.
Ahmad Mazhari, president of Microsoft Asia / Photo credit: Microsoft
Keith Strier, vice president of computing giant Nvidia’s worldwide AI initiatives, says that the tech will supercharge how companies communicate, strategize, and research without added costs.
Within Asia Pacific, Microsoft’s 2023 Work Trend Index found that 78% of employees would delegate as much of their work as possible to AI to lessen their workloads.
“There is a significant opportunity to enhance products and services while unlocking innovation and business value that will shape the future of many industries,” adds Mazhari.
Plenty of experimentation
Aside from easing workloads, generative AI is also fueling experimentation and innovation in the startup scene.
“There are many creative avenues and opportunities – be it in ecommerce, education, operations, maintenance, or even in building virtual assistance for better workflows and user experience,” says Strier. “We see a lot of interest and experimentation among startups around generative AI, which is a good thing to see happening across the region.”
Keith Strier, vice president of computing giant Nvidia’s worldwide AI initiatives / Photo credit: Nvidia
Currently, some of the biggest use cases for generative AI can be seen in communication-centric industries. Aside from HD, other companies exploring the tech’s applications in communications include Singapore’s Wiz.ai, which is developing conversational voice AI for customer engagement, and Indonesia’s Kata.ai, which offers conversational AI chatbots.
Generative AI could also change the retail sector in Southeast Asia. Ong Chen Hui, assistant chief executive for the business-technology group at the Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore, notes that within the region, generative AI has been most visibly used in automated chats for customer service or troubleshooting.
The tech’s applications aren’t just limited to for-profit ends either. Mazhari highlights that it could even “supercharge social and economic progress by unlocking creativity and innovation in a way that empowers people and organizations to thrive.”
For instance, generative AI could help solve many of the challenges faced by people with disabilities through assistive technologies such as audio description tools which aid blind people in navigating their surroundings.
“Generative AI democratizes AI, making it more accessible and affordable,” says Ong.
Examples of generative AI companies in Southeast Asia:
Facing hurdles to adoption
Southeast Asia could prove to be fertile ground for generative AI to thrive, thanks to rapid digitalization in the region and its “young and digitally native” populations who are very open to experimenting with it, says Ong. She also highlights the region’s burgeoning workforce of tech-skilled workers.
That said, there are a number of challenges that could complicate the industry’s growth, ranging from inadequate investments in AI research and development to inconsistent governance across markets.
Ong Chen Hui, assistant chief executive for the business-technology group at IMDA / Photo credit: IMDA
“While we embrace its good, there is also a need to take a cautious approach,” says Ong. She adds that governments must figure out how to design and implement governance frameworks to regulate the technology.
“We need to make the technology safe and aligned to human values and ethical considerations, while also helping companies understand their responsibilities,” she explains.
Nvidia’s Strier agrees and highlights that generative AI innovators must ensure the information and content being made are not only accurate but also respectful of creators’ concerns around intellectual property and copyright protections.
“How can we ensure their work is protected and not misused?” he says. “For consumers, this is also about how we can discern between fake and real content. There has to be guardrails and ethical sounding boards.”
The road ahead
Looking ahead, Microsoft’s Mazhari says the generative AI movement will have to focus on tackling the global AI skills shortage. Without the necessary talent, firms won’t be able to harness the full potential of the tech.
“This new, in-demand, and AI-centric skillset highlights the need to invest in skilling and reskilling,” he adds.
Despite the complexity of untangling these challenges, Southeast Asia’s excitement around generative AI is unlikely to abate, as Strier notes that stakeholders across the business community, government, and consumer bases are signaling plenty of interest.
“Humans can harness generative AI to free up capacity to do higher-value jobs or increase individual productivity,” says Ong. “I don’t think generative AI will take away jobs, but those who know how to harness it will definitely go far.”
