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Lee Pei Xuan from the Harmful Content Monitoring team explaining her team’s project to curious visitors. (Photo: HTX)
Imagine this: You dial 995 to report a fire in your neighbour’s home, but the fire fighters arrive at the opposite block due to incorrect instructions provided by the emergency call centre.
With lives on the line in such a scenario, the consequences of this hiccup can be catastrophic.
To prevent such incidents from occurring, students from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) designed QuerySense for their Capstone project.
Powered by artificial intelligence (AI), QuerySense is able to record case notes after analysing what is said during the call. What’s more, it can be used for Singlish conversations!
To turn this idea into reality, the students received invaluable guidance from the data scientists and AI engineers under HTX’s xData division, which specialises in developing cutting edge solutions that enhance the operations of the Home Team.
The Xponents also mentored the students to train a large language model (LLM) which recognises and generates text. This LLM became the basis for QuerySense.
The QuerySense team. From left to right: Sharlene Chew, Joseph Lai (squatting), Nhieu Chia Xin Yi, Shisheng Huang (HTX mentor), Aloysius Tan (HTX mentor), Jason Ng (HTX mentor), Chong Shuting, Amrita Shah, Valerie Lu, and Associate Professor Sudipta Chattopadhyay (Capstone mentor). Melodee Chia was not in the photo. (Photo: HTX)
Among these mentors was Aloysius Tan, Head of Cognitive Analytics at HTX, who suggested that QuerySense has great potential to go beyond the classroom and impact real life operations.
“Engineers at xData will be reviewing QuerySense to see if it can be integrated into future products developed by us. This project has the potential to bring new capabilities to the AI products that are already in active development,” he said.
According to the SUTD team, the experience of working with industry experts within HTX was an enlightening one to remember.
“This experience of working with our HTX mentors has been a meaningful and pleasant one. These experienced professionals provided us with invaluable feedback at every step of our Capstone journey and we are extremely thankful to have had the opportunity to be mentored by them!” said Valerie Lu.
The experience was also one to remember for Aloysius, who shared that he found it immensely satisfying to be able to guide young talents who share the same passion for science and technology.
“It was heartening to see the students learn so much about training and deploying LLMs. The skills they picked up are important and highly relevant to data science roles in today’s world.”
Another SUTD Capstone project that was specifically developed to improve Home Team operations was Harmful Content Monitoring. Also powered by AI, this application automates the monitoring and identification of harmful content – including hate speech and messages related to the sales of illicit products like vape – on social media platforms.
The students in this team were mentored by engineers from HTX’s xData division and Q Team Centre of Expertise. The following video shows how their application monitors harmful content:
The Harmful Content Monitoring team. Front row, left to right: Aloysius Tan (HTX mentor) and Michelle Liao (HTX mentor). Back row, left to right: Shisheng Huang (HTX mentor), Ng Tze Liang, Lee Pei Xuan, Jayati Parwani, Yip Wen Xu, Dion Lim Hongwei, Dr. Matthieu De Mari (Capstone mentor), Jia Jun Goh (HTX mentor), and Jun Ru Seah (HTX mentor). Ernest Lim Wei Yu, Chiam Jia Hui, Terence Tan (HTX mentor) and Arka Ray (HTX mentor) were not in the photo. (Photo: HTX)
SUTD student Jayati Parwani said that the team benefited much from the support provided by their HTX mentors, who helped define the project scope, frame the problem and provided constructive input which helped improve the application.
Team member Ng Tze Liang added, “While we possessed software development, design thinking and AI knowledge from our SUTD modules, we were nevertheless unaware of how to deliver a product that is in line with industry standards. Our HTX mentors eased us into this journey through their suggestions and regular feedback during our meetings. They also gave us room to be creative and explore throughout entire journey from ideation to project delivery and this helped make our Capstone an enlightening, enriching and purposeful experience.”
Q Team Deputy Director Terence Tan was also full of praise for the SUTD students.
“Watching the students dive into the complexities of online safety with enthusiasm and determination has been truly inspiring. Their eagerness to learn and innovate reminds me of the immense potential within each of us to create positive change,” said Terence.
“It's been an honour to guide them on this journey, and I am filled with pride as I witness their growth and accomplishments. Together, we're making the digital world a safer place, one step at a time.”
