M’sia in good position to adopt AI

 

Zetrix co-founder Datuk Fadzli Shah Anuar

PETALING JAYA: With its own recent ambitious foray into the world of artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain, Zetrix AI Bhd believes Malaysia is well-positioned to adopt and adapt to the fast-moving world of AI technology, and potentially reap economic benefits from the evolution.

Datuk Fadzli Shah Anuar, co-founder of Zetrix, the group's layer-1 blockchain platform, believes the country’s way forward lies not directly from its influx of its data centre (DC) pipeline, but more in how it enables its current workforce to improve productivity as the adoption of AI and high-level technology becomes more prevalent.

The issue is all the more relevant, given Malaysia’s seemingly continuous grapple with the issue of stagnating wages and increasingly higher cost of living.

In an exclusive interview, Fadzli acknowledged that while the government’s sanctioning of the DC influx represents its willingness to get on the tech bandwagon, the presence of DCs themselves will not translate into significant employment opportunities, especially given its highly skilled barrier of entry.

“In fact, while the adoption of AI and blockchain as a whole will mean jobs will be created, we see tasks will also be taken by non-humans, particularly a large portion of repetitive tasks that need to be done reliably and transparently,” he said.

Fadzli further explained why the group has forged several government-backed partnerships with Chinese entities, primarily focusing on AI innovation, blockchain interoperability, cross-border trade facilitation, digital identity and data trading.

With China being a significant economic and trade partner for Malaysia, he reiterated that Zetrix AI’s belief that much of China’s industrial and end-user behaviour will translate to some form of variant in this country, remarking: “Malaysia will follow similar growth and adoption cycles.”

 

Citing the recent trend of one-person companies or OPCs in China, with a single entrepreneur utilising multiple AI agents in delivering a service, Fadzli expects more tech-savvy youths adopting this business model.

He observed this as a form of job creation, commenting that Malaysia is well positioned to embrace this approach.

“This example will show that the current workforce can use AI and technology to become even more effective within its current roles, and perhaps we will see a tectonic shift of job roles.

“Businesses will move dynamically, a simple but huge departure from how things were previously, and we see Malaysia adopting such technology addictively,” he noted.

Nevertheless, Fadzli recognised the trust challenges that come with widespread AI and tech adoption, especially in maintaining service dependency and data privacy trust.

He believes there are three facets to building digital trust, namely, the reliability of the service rendered, data protection and the assurance that there will be no leakage of information, and the certainty that the parties dealing with each other know exactly who they are transacting with.

“We see that with the use of AI agents, not only can everything be done very accurately but also securely, because it will all be based on data packets. So for that, we believe that over the long term (AI), the agent-to-agent economy will be a commonplace occurrence,” said Fadzli.

As to how reality plays out this adoption, he is betting that it will change the way the public consume everyday services, from booking a car, ordering products online to even eCommerce, with AI agents securely matching orders to personal profiles.

Furthermore, he feels as applications become simpler for higher utilisation among the public, due to faster iteration cycles, there also needs to be user acceptance and awareness, and the necessity to marry digital identities (such as Malaysia’s MyDigital ID) with ever-growing technologies to ensure better data privacy and prevent scams.

With China and Asean being economies with somewhat different profiles, Fadzli conceded that there is no straightforward answer to this question.

He emphasised that China, due to the sheer size of its population and economy, can set standards, but it does not represent cluster economies which are interdependent as a trading bloc such as Asean.

“In our view, Asean is opportunistically a good showcase of how independent countries can work together and we are in a position to adopt certain standards that could be carried through an entire bloc, which can then be mirrored by the Gulf Cooperation Council or South American nations,” he explained.

On the differences between China and Asean notwithstanding, Fadzli believes that certain major economies (such as China or the United States) will lead in certain standards and cluster nation groups will then adopt these standards.

He says Asean state leaderships believe in digitalisation as a serious economic lever, as there is concerted effort to take this conversation seriously.

“Governance, however, is not keeping pace with the adoption or the onboarding of technology.

“What we can do to add value to what China is doing, using QR codes as an example, is to enable cross-border transactions and tech adoption more efficiently. Can governance keep up with such innovation?”

In addition, Fadzli said a more widespread usage of stablecoins such as the JMYR, a Malaysian ringgit-pegged stablecoin, would mean trades can be analysed with data more efficiently, while financing and remittances can be made instant.

JMYR is a fully backed, 1:1 digital token representing the Malaysian ringgit, designed for fast, programmable payments, settlements, remittances, and on/off-ramp functionality on Zetrix’s blockchain.

“It is essential to construct a stablecoin infrastructure, as this can create a transparent yet secure, efficient and competitive marketplace,” said Fadzli.

By KEITH HIEW

AI chatbots are not doctors

 PETALING JAYA: More Malaysians are turning to artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots for health information, from checking symptoms and understanding medical reports to learning about medications and traditional ­remedies.

While healthcare professionals welcome the technology as a useful educational tool, they caution that information should not be mistaken for a diagnosis.

Doctors, pharmacists and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners say patients are increasingly arriving with information obtained from AI chatbots, prompting concerns that some may delay seeking treatment, self-medicate or misinterpret symptoms without professional guidance.

Malaysian Medical Association president Datuk Dr Thirunavukarasu Rajoo said it has become increasingly common for patients to consult AI chatbots or search online before seeing a doctor. 

“This is not necessarily a bad thing. Patients today are more informed and more engaged in their healthcare.

“The concern is often not that AI gives a completely wrong answer. The concern is that patients may delay seeking medical attention because the advice appears reassuring,” he said in an interview yesterday.

ALSO READ: Chatbots show clear limitations during user scenario

“For some conditions, that may not matter. For others, such as dengue, stroke, heart attack or cancer, that delay can be significant. When it comes to healthcare, timing matters.”

He noted that AI can only work with the information provided by users and lacks the ability to conduct physical examinations or investigations.

“Medicine is more than information. It is examination, investigation, judgment and responsibility. AI can be a useful source of information, but it should not replace a medical consultation. It can point patients in the right direction, but it cannot confirm a diagnosis,” he said.

'CLICK TO ENLARGE'

Universiti Malaya epidemiology and public health expert Prof Dr Sanjay Rampal said AI has made health information more accessible, but users should be mindful that general-purpose models may also provide inaccurate information.

“The models’ reasoning is based on information available on the Internet. As we know, the Internet contains both good and bad ­information.

“As the models become more intelligent, AI literacy is going to be just as important as health literacy,” he said.

Malaysian Community Pharmacy Guild honorary ­secretary Rachel Gan said pharmacists are increasingly seeing customers consult AI before seeking professional advice.

“Sometimes they show us the AI responses and ask us to verify the information or explain why the chatbot suggested something different,” she said.

Gan said AI could be useful for general health information, but consumers may become unnecessarily anxious if they misinterpret the information provided.

Malaysian Pharmacists Society president Amrahi Buang said pharmacists are particularly concerned when consumers use AI-generated information to make decisions about medicines without professional advice.

He warned that over-the-­counter medicines, supplements and herbal products may ­temporarily relieve symptoms while masking more serious underlying conditions.

“Some symptoms that appear harmless can be signs of more serious diseases that require medical attention,” he said.

Federation of Chinese Physicians and Acupuncturists Associations Malaysia president Prof Dr Ng Po Kok said TCM practitioners are seeing more patients consult AI before seeking advice on herbs and traditional remedies.

“Some enter medical terms from their lab reports and ask AI to explain them before bringing the information to us,” he said.

However, he stressed that AI could not replace professional assessment.

“Two patients may have similar symptoms but require different treatment approaches. This is something AI may not always be able to determine accurately,” he said, adding that AI cannot replace a consultation, physical examination and follow-up.

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China steals a march on US in tech title race

Low cost, high impact ai mod­els surge in global usage

 

Making inroads: A woman descends a staircase in a book store in Beijing. Despite considerable geopolitical tensions, Chinese open-source AI models are winning over a growing number of programmers and companies in the United States. — AFP

NEW YORK: As the United States embarks on a bitter rivalry with China over the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI), Chinese technology is quietly making inroads into the US market.

Despite considerable geopolitical tensions, Chinese open-source AI models are winning over a growing number of programmers and companies in the United States.

These are different from the closed generative AI models that have become household names – ChatGPT-maker OpenAI or Google’s Gemini – whose inner workings are fiercely protected.

In contrast, “open” models offered by many Chinese rivals, from Alibaba to DeepSeek, allow programmers to customise parts of the software to suit their needs.

Globally, use of Chinese-developed open models has surged from just 1.2% in late 2024 to nearly 30% in August, according to a report published this month by the developers’ platform OpenRouter and US venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.

China’s open-source models “are cheap – in some cases free – and they work well,” Wang Wen, dean of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China said.

One American entrepreneur, speaking on condition of anonymity, said their business saves US$400,000 annually by using Alibaba’s Qwen AI models instead of the proprietary models.

“If you need cutting-edge capabilities, you go back to OpenAI, Anthropic or Google, but most applications don’t need that,” said the entrepreneur.

US chip titan Nvidia, AI firm Perplexity and California’s Stanford University are also using Qwen models in some of their work.

The January launch of DeepSeek’s high performance, low cost and open source “R1” large language model (LLM) defied the perception that the best AI tech had to be from US juggernauts like OpenAI, Anthropic or Google.

It was also a reckoning for the United States, locked in a battle for dominance in AI tech with China, on how far its archrival had come.

AI models from China’s MiniMax and Z.ai are also popular overseas, and the country has entered the race to build AI agents, programmes that use chatbots to complete online tasks like buying tickets or adding events to a calendar.

Agent friendly, and open-source, models, like the latest version of the Kimi K2 model from the startup Moonshot AI, released in November, are widely considered the next frontier in the generative AI revolution.

The US government is aware of open-source’s potential.

In July, the Trump administration released an “AI Action Plan” that said America needed “leading open models founded on American values”.

These could become global standards, it said.

But so far US companies are taking the opposite track. Meta, which had led the country’s open-source efforts with its Llama models, is now concentrating on closed-source AI instead.

However, this summer, OpenAI, under pressure to revive the spirit of its origin as a nonprofit, released two “open-weight” models – slightly less malleable than “open-source”.

Among major Western companies, only France’s Mistral is sticking with open-source, but it ranks far behind DeepSeek and Qwen in usage rankings.

Western open-source offerings are “just not as interesting”, said the US entrepreneur who uses Alibaba’s Qwen.

The Chinese government has encouraged open-source AI technology, despite questions over its profitability.

Mark Barton, chief technology officer at OMNIUX, said he was considering using Qwen but some of his clients could be uncomfortable with the idea of interacting with Chinese-made AI, even for specific tasks.

Given the current US administration’s stance on Chinese tech companies, risks remain, he said.

“We wouldn’t want to go all-in with one specific model provider, especially one that’s maybe not aligned with Western ideas,” said Barton.

“If Alibaba were to get sanctioned or usage was effectively blacklisted, we don’t want to get caught in that trap.”

But Paul Triolo, a partner at DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group, said there were no “salient issues” surrounding data security.

“Companies can choose to use the models and build on them, without any connection to China,” he explained.

A recent Stanford study published posited that “the very nature of open-model releases enables better scrutiny” of the tech. — AFP

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‘Make AI an ally’

 

AS universities grapple with regulating the use of artificial intelligence (AI) among students, a niche service sector has already emerged.

Third parties are now advertising services on e-commerce platforms to help students bypass AI detectors in their submissions.

These services, marketed as “humanising” AI-generated assignments, involve making machine-produced material sound more like it was written by an actual person. This is done by refining text, replacing overly formal phrasing with more conversational language, or weaving in personal stories and anecdotes.

Stressing the need for varsities to safeguard academic integrity, educators cautioned that this is essential to ensure that students genuinely develop the competencies and skills their qualifications claim to represent.

This, they argued, requires rethinking student assessment models, including moving away from one-off major exams, integrating continuous assessment of the learning process, and introducing formal declarations of AI use - similar to acknowledging collaboration with peers.

“When learning activities are designed to consider not just the final outcome, but also the process, the responses, and how students engage with the material, those elements can serve as meaningful forms of learning assessment,” University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) development communication Prof Melinda dela Peña Bandalaria told StarEdu.

A former UPOU chancellor, Prof Melinda also served as president of the Asian Association of Open Universities, championing massive open online courses and open educational resources across the region.

“It is no longer just about teaching because knowledge today comes from many different sources.

“Our role is to determine the right level and type of assessment, so we can truly certify that an individual has gained the necessary competencies and skills,” she said.

Rooted in culture

Prof JungEducation Research Institute visiting research fellow Prof Insung Jung at Seoul National University, South Korea, said students’ reliance on “humanised” AI services is closely tied to societal pressures.

“It is a universal issue, especially in societies that place a strong emphasis on achievements and admission into top universities. This pressure tends to be even stronger in Asian cultures,” she said.

The pressure, said Prof Jung - who has over three decades of experience in open, distance and digital education - is compounded by the fact that some institutions discourage AI use, pushing students to conceal it.

“Students often aim to produce quality work quickly, but then conceal their use of AI. This is partly because some education institutions discourage AI use.

“As a result, students resort to using ‘humanised’ AI responses to avoid detection,” she explained.

In contrast, she noted that Japan’s education and employment practices create a different dynamic.

“In Japan, grades matter less because companies don’t hire based on transcripts. The minimum grade requirement is only 1.0 out of 4.5.

“Whereas in Korea, if you don’t have, for example, 3.0 out of 4.5, you don’t even get to apply for jobs at companies,” said Prof Jung, who spent 19 years teaching in Tokyo, Japan.

Agreeing, University of South Africa Emeritus Prof Paul Prinsloo noted that societal norms often influence how students perceive integrity.

“Another factor is when corruption is deeply embedded in a national culture and people routinely get away with it - without naming any specific countries or regions.

“In such environments, students may grow up believing it is acceptable to pay off authorities or buy their way through life.

“This creates a distorted sense of right and wrong, as dishonesty feels justified - everyone is doing it, or they believe they will not be caught,” Prof Prinsloo, whose expertise is in open and distance e-learning, AI in education and the ethics of student data use, explained.

Focus on learning

The real issue, Prof Prinsloo highlighted, also lies in universities’ emphasis on outcomes rather than the learning journey.

“We did not prepare graduates properly. We focused too much on giving them the right answer instead of teaching them how to think and to find the answer,” he admitted, adding that the focus is now slowly shifting to the learning process.

A way forward is to integrate continuous assessment into the learning process, Prof Olaf Zawacki-Richter of University of Oldenburg, Germany, suggested.

Outsourcing assignments through student help services is relatively uncommon In Germany due to the country’s academic system, said the varsity’s Faculty of Education and Social Sciences dean.

“Students are not graded frequently as they only receive one graded project per module.

“Learning is project-based and collaborative, so lecturers can observe the students’ process step by step.

“This makes it transparent whether the students actually did the work themselves,” he said.

Even before the rise of AI, some institutions had been experimenting with alternative ways of engaging students in assessment.

Citing an example, Prof Prinsloo said some varsities require learners to evaluate their own work based on a clearly spelt-out guideline.

“Students grade their own assignments according to criteria, and then we compared their self-assessment with ours,” he explained.

Although not foolproof, the approach encouraged accountability by prompting students to reflect honestly on their performance and take ownership of their learning.

“It becomes part of their responsibility to own up and say ‘this is how well I think I did’,” he added.

Be transparent

Prof XiaoIt is human nature to look for shortcuts, making it crucial for universities to establish mechanisms that ensure responsible use of AI, said Emeritus Prof Junhong Xiao from Open University of Shantou, China.

“Whether we like it or not, AI will be used in education.

“We, as educators, ensure that students learn to use AI responsibly,” he said.

Rather than punishing students for turning to AI, Prof Prinsloo advocated embracing it as part of the learning process.

“I want to know how they use AI. What was their process? Did they check the answer? How did they validate the answers? We should be interested in the process,” he said, emphasising that students should be encouraged to use such tools responsibly.

He also underscored the importance of transparency in learning and collaboration, cautioning that punishment of AI use could drive students to discover new ways to cheat.

“One university even has a declaration that students fill in to say, ‘I worked with a colleague or AI in this assignment.’

“We almost always punish them for working together with other students or with technology when we should be open and encourage them,” he opined.

Likewise, Prof Melinda shared that her university has already introduced an AI policy at the institutional level.

Under the policy, students are required to declare and document how they engaged with AI, such as the questions they asked, the responses they received, and how they evaluated those responses.

“We ask ‘How did you use AI in your submission’, for instance?

“They have to track the actions they have taken and document it,” Prof Melinda explained.

She, however, acknowledged the challenges of enforcement, as declarations may not always be complete or fully honest.

“Of course, it’s not a guarantee that they will declare everything, especially if they submitted something that’s completely AI-generated. We still have to reflect and guard against that,” she added.

Note: Prof Melinda, Prof Jung, Prof Xiao, Prof Prinsloo and Prof Zawacki-Richter were speakers at the Open University Malaysia “Visionary Leadership: Charting the Futures of Digital Education” public lecture on Aug 6.

Thumbs up: Mustapha (ninth from left) with Prof Ahmad Izanee (seventh from right) with the speakers and guests at the public lectures series. - AZMAN GHANI/The Star

AI in academia

THE Higher Education Ministry is committed to preparing students for a future shaped by AI and digital transformation, says its Deputy Minister Datuk Mustapha Sakmud.

“We are improving how AI is taught and used across our universities.

“We are also building campus environments that support flexible learning, including better Internet access, modern learning spaces, and stronger support for academic staff,” he said at the Open University Malaysia (OUM) “Visionary Leadership: Charting the Futures of Digital Education” public lecture on Aug 6.

Held at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, the free public lecture series was organised in conjunction with the varsity’s 25th anniversary.

Also present were higher education director-general Prof Dr Azlinda Azman, and OUM president and vice-chancellor Prof Dr Ahmad Izanee Awang.

Subsequently, in a parliamentary reply on Aug 26, Mustapha said the ministry has outlined several measures to address the use of AI in academic writing, namely:

Developing guidelines for AI use in higher education.

Monitoring and regulating practices at the institutional level.

Revising assessment and evaluation methods.

Strengthening teaching and learning approaches that support higher-order thinking skills.

Providing training and professional development.

Upholding a firm commitment to academic integrity.

Ensuring all new and existing courses will include AI-related elements starting from 2025.

Mainstreaming the integration of AI into curricula through an “embedded AI” approach across study programmes, according to the needs of each discipline, such as engineering, technology, social sciences, and service-related fields.

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