Tech Talks foster conversations around technology and storytelling

The Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) continues building out conversations around the intersection of technology and storytelling.

- Charmaine Lim

On the 2024 edition's opening night on Nov 8, panelists Yeo Whee Jim, Josh Tseng and Gemma Rose Foo spoke about how they used technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to help them read and write at Tech Talks: Tech-enabled Reading And Writing at The Arts House's Living Room.

Self-expression, information sharing, community building and escapism were among the commonalities they shared regarding their use of AI.

For Foo, a book blogger with cerebral palsy, it allowed her to share a love of stories with fellow readers. Tseng, a content creator with congenital glaucoma, educates the public about blindness through cleverly scripted social media posts.

However, it was Yeo, who is in his 50s, who made the audience tear up multiple times while sharing poetry he wrote through voice-to-text as someone with motor neurone disease, a fatal condition that leads to muscle weakness.