A Small Nation’s Perspective: Singapore's Policy Approaches to AI in the Creative Media Industries

This paper critically examines Singapore’s policy stance towards the deployment of GAI in the media industries and queries the impact that existing policies may have on the long-term sustainability of its creative media industries. Generative artificial intelligence (GAI) technologies have permeated global public discourse since the release of ChatGPT in 2022, inspiring both hype and horror at their perceived ability to emulate or even surpass human expression and creativity. In the global media industries, the emergence of GAI tools has sparked similar mixed reactions, with screenwriters, actors, visual effects artists, journalists, video editors, and composers uncertain about the long-term impacts on their already precarious work as creative professionals.

Singapore has a unique profile as a small, multiethnic nation with a population of 5.9 million people (Department of Statistics Singapore, 2024), and like other smaller creative industries, its creative practitioners face different challenges stemming from the vulnerabilities, constraints, and opportunities of small nations (Hjort & Petrie 2007). Meanwhile, Singapore is also considered to be a top AI hub in Asia (Yeap & Lee, 2024), and AI usage among citizens and residents ranks among the highest per capita users of ChatGPT globally (Economic Development Board of Singapore, 2024). These characteristics make it a compelling case study to examine how its policy frameworks balance its AI ambitions while safeguarding the sustainability of its creative media industries (IMDA, 2024; Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, 2024). This study aligns with the conference theme “Communicating Environmental Justice” by examining how AI governance in creative media industries intersects with cultural sustainability — a key component of environmental justice in the digital age. By analysing Singapore’s approach, this research contributes to broader discussions on fostering sustainable creative ecosystems in an AI-driven world.

The Singapore Government is now investing significantly in the development and deployment of AI technologies across multiple industries, in the belief that adoption of AI will significantly benefit the economy and society (Wu, 2023). Workers, particularly those in the media industry, now have to grapple with the question of how to re-skill themselves to be ‘AI-ready’ and business-relevant in order to withstand the threat of having their labour be replaced by AI-driven automation tools. A November 2024 study conducted by the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers concluded that over the next five years, approximately 25% of creative workers’ incomes will be at risk while AI providers will see their revenues rise by up to EUR 5 billion in the audiovisual field (International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers and PMP Strategy 2024). As Singapore adopts an AI-positive stance across different industries, the uncertainty faced by creative practitioners is magnified in the absence of sector-specific regulations and guidelines around sustainable, responsible, and equitable uses of GAI. While some policy efforts have been made to draw up best practices and skills training frameworks to respond to the challenges of AI to the creative media industry and its practitioners (cf. Infocomm Media Development Authority–IMDA, 2024), these focus on a more immediate horizon rather than taking the long view with respect to issues like labour conditions, talent development, copyright, and the protection of the nation’s cultural capital.

Drawing on the notion of culturally sustainable development (Throsby, 2017), this study focuses on three key aspects, underpinned by the principle of sustainability: (i) labour impact, including the gig-economy vulnerabilities; (ii) professional and cultural identity; and (iii) ethical AI use. Through qualitative content analysis of a comprehensive selection of policy documents spanning 2019 to 2024, including the National AI Strategy (2023), IMDA guidelines (IMDA, 2024), and Singapore’s Copyright Act (2021), this study critically examines how policy frameworks governing GAI impact the sustainability of its creative media industries. Singapore’s National AI strategy was formally launched in 2019, making it a logical starting point for analysing key policy perspectives related toAI and the creative industries. Policy documents are selected based on their relevance to GAI and creative work, institutional authority, and alignment with Singapore's AI strategy.

Preliminary findings indicate three key tensions. First, while IMDA’s Skills Framework (2024) focuses on supporting technical training in GAI in the creative industries, there is limited support for freelance and gig-economy workers navigating structural shifts brought about by GAI (cf., Soon, Chew & Tan, 2024). Second, Singapore’s broad text and data-mining exceptions under the Copyright Act of 2021 have been noted to disproportionately favour AI developers, leaving creative practitioners vulnerable to unlicensed appropriation of their work (Chesterman, 2024). Third, Singapore’s AI-positive approach, which does not incorporate cultural diversity and attribution metrics into their AI frameworks, unlike those of the EU and UK, runs the risk of reduced cultural plurality in its AI ecosystem, privileging global tech companies and disadvantaging local creatives in preserving their work.