Be S.U.R.E. Together About Gen AI and Deepfakes at NLB’s Largest Information Literacy Outreach To Date

More than 430,000 expected to learn information literacy skills together over five months at five community hubs, more than 15 public libraries, and online

This year, the National Library Board (NLB) is rolling out its most extensive S.U.R.E. community outreach spanning five weekends from 15 June to 20 October 2024 at community hubs across Singapore. Be S.U.R.E. Together: Gen AI and Deepfakes Edition will provide rich opportunities for all to learn more together about leveraging Generative AI (Gen AI) for public good, while safeguarding themselves and their loved ones against online threats such as deepfakes and scams. 

Launched in 2013, NLB’s S.U.R.E. (Source, Understand, Research, Evaluate) initiative has been pivotal in promoting the importance of information discernment among Singaporeans. Following the launch of the S.U.R.E. community outreach programme online in 2022, last year’s edition had reached out to close to 271,000 participants, both in person and online. This year, NLB aims to reach more than 430,000 participants. The festival will be held at five community hubs below, along with roving exhibits at more than 15 public libraries across Singapore from now till end-October 2024. 

Launched today by Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information, Mr Tan Kiat How, at Heartbeat@Bedok, Be S.U.R.E. Together offers free hands-on activities and educational resources on information literacy that are co-created by NLB and its community partners. Among the highlights are interactive quizzes that the public can take to see how well they fare in discerning Gen AI content, along with audio-visual resources on Gen AI and deepfakes to build up information literacy skills. There will also be live demos and talks on Gen AI tools and digital inclusion by local tech companies, and workshops by NLB’s new SURE Learning Community. 

The SURE Learning Community is a partnership with CheckMate, a ground-up group of volunteers helping the public to factcheck information. This learning marketplace will offer all a useful platform to connect, collaborate and discover more together about information literacy topics and skills, through free resources and programmes. It will also offer opportunities for members to volunteer as NLB’s SURE Ambassadors and with CheckMate, to help equip more in the community with information literacy skills.

NLB’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Ng Cher Pong, said: “Beyond offering a deep dive into the fast-evolving Generative AI technology, we want to empower Singaporeans with timely knowledge and skills to harness the potential power and navigate the challenges of today’s digital landscape. In the spirit of LAB25 to foster an Informed Citizenry well-equipped to thrive in the digital world confidently and safely, we have scaled up our outreach efforts and will also set up the SURE Learning Community this year. In collaboration with our partners, we will continue to push on with our efforts to help more Singaporeans be S.U.R.E. together.”

Besides participating at this year’s outreach, the public can also visit the SURE website to join the SURE Learning Community, and explore programmes and resources on Gen AI, along with other topics such as fighting online scams, Information Literacy, Digital Safety and Digital Wellness in English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil. 

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About National Library Board

The National Library Board (NLB) nurtures Readers for Life, Learning Communities and a Knowledgeable Nation by promoting reading, learning and history through its network of 28 libraries, the National Library and the National Archives of Singapore. NLB also forges strategic partnerships that encourage awareness, appreciation and greater discovery of Singapore's history through its rich collections on Singapore and the region.

NLB achieves excellence through innovation, focusing on citizen engagement and co-creation, resource and digital innovation. This creates learning opportunities, greater access to library resources, services, and archival collections, as well as a continual development of innovative library spaces. Established on 1 September 1995 as a statutory board, NLB is under the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI).

For more information, please visit the NLB website, and NLB’s Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube channels. 

For media queries, please contact:

Zoey Tan
Weber Shandwick
9073 6422
ztan@webershandwick.com

Laura Cheng
Weber Shandwick
9650 7074
lcheng@webershandwick.com