A new study has designed a prediction method to simulate the yearly southward migration of humpback whales, which could provide management authorities with greater awareness of altered migration routes in a changing climate.
Led by Griffith University, the study focused on the southern migration of humpback whale mums and calves between the Great Barrier Reef and the Gold Coast bay to develop a new modelling approach to predicting their movements.
“Humpback whales encounter a variety of environmental conditions during seasonal migration between polar feeding grounds and tropical breeding grounds,” said lead author Dr Jasper de Bie, from Griffith’s Coastal and Marine Research Centre.
“The relationships between environmental conditions and the whales’ migratory movements are largely unknown because there is a lack of oceanographic data coupled with the presence or absence of the whales.”
Dr De Bie and the team reproduced observed migration patterns from August to October 2017 by assessing how the sea depth, ocean currents and water temperatures impacted the whales’ movements.
The modelling further confirmed that the whales switched direction after Hervey Bay (a known resting ground), which appeared to align with the coastline.
“Our model provides a novel, suitable framework for simulating humpback whale migration, and an important first step in the development of predictive models of humpback whale behaviour,” Dr De Bie said.
“Developing such tools is increasingly necessary to predict how changing ocean conditions are likely to affect their distribution.”
With the passing of the bill this week to ban young people from social media, we need to keep talking about alternatives so the Senate approaches this with a long-term view, not a quick fix. Adults created this online genie, that we now seem to want to put back in the bottle, but at what cost to young people?
Young people who are experiencing vitriolic, damaging online hate via social media or who have fallen prey to scams need to be protected from immediate harm. Removing the source of the hate or scam is important in the first instance, however, we also need to help young people develop robust self-worth through support from peers, family and professionals to navigate cyberbullying and other potentially harmful content such as sextortion scams. Long-term reputational damage to a young person’s self-image via online spreading of lies can be devastating and life threatening as we have sadly seen. But as the cyber juggernaut continues to grow and morph, online bullying will likely never go away, and we cannot wrap kids in cotton wool forever.
Associate Professor Jennifer Alford
Removing the source of potentially problematic content from within the reach of young people does nothing to help them traverse these spaces with a healthy, critical disposition. They will not miraculously wake up at 16 and be able to do this. They need to develop critical thinking and critical literacy practices to be able to distinguish mis/disinformation and opinion from truth, and to work out what they think and believe. The Australian Curriculum: English provides ample opportunity for this to be covered in school lessons with a specific mandate for teachers to help students ‘learn to identify the opinions, assumptions and points of view in texts’ and to ‘analyse how language is used to position individuals and groups’. Social media and advertising provide ideal material to do this. My research has shown how Australian school students are able critically analyse social media out of school because they are learning how to do this in school.
Banning children from accessing social media lets the makers and peddlers of mis/disinformation and harmful opinion get away with it without taking responsibility for their part in its existence. Big tech companies making millions continue to benefit while young people are denied access to what can be innocuous, enjoyable material on social media just because some of it may be harmful.
What are some alternatives to banning social media for young people?
Talk with young people about the time they spend on social media and what they get out of it/don’t get out of it. My research with 15-year-olds shows they are more critical of it than we think. We should encourage this critical view. Work out with them how they want to balance it with other activities such as sport, music, reading books. Give them some control over how they use it. Banning and removing it will only make them angry and rebel and potentially push them to the dark web.
Agree on designated spaces/places for being on social media – public places in the home – and others for where it is not used, for example in bed late at night.
Encourage young people to see social media as just one of many spaces for learning from and enjoying information sharing.
Discuss social media posts/videos openly in families as soon as kids are mature enough – bring it out in the open and defuse its power. The more we make it the bogey man, the more we will fear it.
Discuss the ways people interact online. Often people hide behind anonymity in the online world to posit what is nothing more than emotion-fuelled (and at times alcohol and drug-fuelled) opinion. They would never say it to our face which says more about them.
Play fact checker games – spot the false claim with Snopes.com rumour checker.
Model responsible use of social media to your children and discuss – what are we as adults prepared to put online? Why? Why not?
Associate Professor Jennifer Alford is Deputy Head of School (Research) of the School of Education and Professional Studies, and Deputy Director of Griffith Institute of Education Research at Griffith University.
Griffith University researchers have been awarded a combined total of $7,218,149 in the Australian Research Council’s latest round of Discovery Projects, representing a 44.4% success rate.
From settlement agreements between First Peoples and governments, quantum experiments to test reality beyond Bell’s theorem, to oxygen release from red blood cells under pressure, the 12 successful Griffith research teams will #makeitmatter by tackling a variety of societal and scientific challenges the world faces.
Griffith’s successful Discovery Projects are:
Spectral-spatial-temporal object tracking in hyperspectral videos, led by Professors Jun Zhou and Kuldip Paliwal, valued at $523,425.
Advancing Quantum Experiments to Test Reality Beyond Bell’s Theorem, led by Professor Howard Wiseman, Dr Nora Tischler, Associate Professor Eric Cavalcanti and Dr William Zeng, valued at $956,929.
Advancing statistical models for clustering data with structured dependence, led by Professor Shu-Kay Angus Ng, Associate Professor Hien Nguyen, Dr Florence Forbes and Associate Professor Liming Xiang, valued at $509,809.
Unlocking the mechanobiological events in oxygen unloading by erythrocytes, led by Associate Professor Michael Simmonds, Professor Daniel Kolarich, Dr Lennart Kuck and Associate Professor Jason Peart, valued at $644,976.
Developing chemical probes for effector triggered immunity in plants, led by Associate Professor Thomas Ve and Dr Santosh Rudrawar, valued at $767,243.
Dissecting the interplay of metabolism and lysine acetylation in Plasmodium, led by Professor Katherine Andrews, Dr Ghizal Siddiqui and Dr Alain-Dominique Gorse, valued at $646,936.
Mitigating the dark side of AI-powered virtual influencers, Dr Sara Thaichon, Associate Professor Isaac Cheah, Associate Professor Park Thaichon, Professor Scott Weaven and Professor Dr Robert Palmatier, valued at $365,770.
Proxy advisors and political dynamics in ethical investment campaigns, led by Dr Erin O’Brien, Dr Ainsley Elbra and Dr Martijn Boersma, valued at $660,397.
Timber reimagined: structurally efficient two-way flat plate construction, led by Professor Hong Guan, Associate Professor Hassan Karampour and Associate Professor Benoit Gilbert, valued at $520,387.
Co-creating a sustainable future for the community heritage sector, led by Professor Sarah Baker, valued at $512,968.
A further 5 projects involving Griffith researchers, led by other institutions were also announced.
Associate Professor Debbie Bargallie on the project What does ‘doing diversity’ do, and how can it be done differently?, led by Macquarie University.
Professor Simone Fullagaron the project Creating Safer Sport Communities from Rural to Urban Australia, led by La Trobe University.
Professor Neeraj Gill on the project A Human Rights Implementation Assessment for Mental Health Law and Policy, led by La Trobe University.
Dr Amber Marshall on the project The Role of Public Library Services for a Changing Rural Australia, led by Charles Sturt University.
Dr Leo Zhang on the project Copyright Protection of Deep Neural Network Models Based on Watermarking, led by Deakin University.
It would not be a proper Australian Christmas without hearing Paul Kelly’s ‘How To Make Gravy’, but from this December, you will be able to watch it as well.
Three-time ARIA Award-winning musician, songwriter, voice actor and Queensland Conservatorium (The Con) alumnus Megan Washington has joined forces with her filmmaker husband Nick Waterman to create a feature film adaptation of the classic song, available on Binge from 1 December 2024.
While the pair had always adored the song, it took a friend’s playful text message suggesting they make it into a film to set the ball in motion.
“We called Paul’s manager to see if the rights were available and he invited us to Paul’s gig the next day, which just happened to be gravy day, 21 December,” Ms Washington said.
“There we were at the Riverstage with 10,000 people starting to cry at the same time and we just looked at each other and decided we had to make it happen.”
The pair wanted to keep the film as true to the song as possible, ensuring those familiar with it would find all the details they love and be able to tick off every lyric, while also making sure it would make sense for those who had never heard the song.
“The song was the stars we sailed by,” Ms Washington said.
Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University alumnus Megan Washington
“We used it as a map to the world and created the planet from there.
“All the details for the film’s world, plot and narrative had to come from a single song, but we tried to invent as little as we could.”
Audiences will, however, meet a few new characters in the adaptation, including a fellow prisoner named Noel, played by Australian screen icon Hugo Weaving.
The film will also feature several original songs by Ms Washington.
It is far from her first foray into the screen world, having made music for Australian television series Fisk, writing a musical called The Deb which was turned into a feature film by Rebel Wilson, and of course her role voicing teacher Calypso and creating several original songs for kids’ favourite TV show Bluey.
“Bluey has been a really beautiful journey to be part of because it’s just so uniquely itself, and I think that authenticity is just so real and beautiful and hopeful, and it just portrays the best parts of what it is to be a parent and a human,” Ms Washington said.
“I’m very inspired by it.”
While she didn’t meet Bluey creator and fellow Griffith University alumnus Joe Brumm until well after they both graduated, Ms Washington remembers her time there with fondness, saying it challenged her to think about music very deeply and introduced her to different ideas of what music could be.
“The Con was really where I turned from a singer into a musician,” she said.
“I loved all the lectures and classes, but my favourite subject was world music because I loved learning all the different forms and ways other cultures create sound and music.
“I learnt how the spontaneous freedom of jazz works, how the meticulous precision of Indonesian Gamelan works, how the Blues work, how showtunes work, how music is made of both silence and sound, and understanding there’s always something deeper going on, beyond what it sounds like.
“As a young singer, this training helped me to get to know myself and my instrument, and also gave me the skills to look after my voice so I can keep making the sounds I like, whether writing songs for myself to sing, or writing a song for a character.”
Currently on her ‘The Hook’ tour, you can catch Megan Washington at venues around Australia up until 21 December 2024.
If everyone was as active as the top 25 per cent of the population, individuals over the age of 40 could add five years to their life, according to a new study led by Griffith University researchers.
Physical activity has long been known to be good for health, however estimates have varied regarding how much benefit could be gained from a defined amount of activity, both for individuals and for populations.
This latest study used US-based accelerometry data to gain an accurate view of a population’s physical activity levels instead of relying on survey responses as per other studies, and found the benefits were around twice as strong as previous estimates.
It found the most active quarter of people in the community had a 73 per cent lower risk of death than their least active counterparts.
For that least active quartile, a single one-hour walk could potentially return a benefit of around six additional hours of life.
Lead researcher Professor Lennert Veerman said this cohort had the greatest potential for health gains.
“If you’re already very active or in that top quartile, an extra hour’s walk may not make much difference as you’ve, in a sense, already ‘maxxed out’ your benefit,” he said.
“If the least active quartile of the population over age 40 were to increase their activity level to that of the most active quartile however, they might live, on average, about 11 years longer.
“This is not an unreasonable prospect, as 25 per cent of the population is already doing it.
“It can be any type of exercise but would roughly be the equivalent of just under three hours of walking per day.”
The research team suggested low levels of physical activity could even rival the negative effects of smoking, with other research finding each cigarette could take 11 minutes from a smoker’s life.
By extension, a more active lifestyle could also offer protective effects against heart disease, stroke, certain cancers and other chronic illnesses, with the study’s findings highlighting a need for national physical activity guidelines to be revisited using these methods.
Dr Veerman said physical activity had been vastly underestimated in its capacity to improve health outcomes, suggesting even modest increases in movement could lead to significant life-extension benefits.
“If there’s something you could do to more than halve your risk of death, physical activity is enormously powerful,” he said.
“If we could increase investment in promoting physical activity and creating living environments that promote it such as walkable or cyclable neighbourhoods and convenient, affordable public transport systems, we could not only increase longevity but also reduce pressure on our health systems and the environment.”
Griffith Business School and the globally renowned sustainability leader EarthCheck have joined forces to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing the tourism industry today with a new co-funded PhD scholarship. This collaboration will see the Griffith Institute for Tourism (GIFT) working closely with EarthCheck to deliver innovative research aimed at developing sustainable solutions for tourism hot-spots.
This longstanding partnership underscores the value of academia and industry working together to create impactful research. By teaming up with EarthCheck, the world’s leading scientific benchmarking and advisory group for sustainable travel, GIFT reinforces its commitment to driving sustainability and resilience in tourism.
As part of the partnership, a new co-funded PhD scholarship, worth AUD$42,192 per year offers aspiring researchers the chance to bridge academic theory with real-world industry practices. PhD candidate Ly Nguyen, the first scholarship recipient, has just begun her research project focused on empowering local communities to manage over-tourism and promote sustainable tourism practices.
Ly’s research, which integrates the sustainability expertise of EarthCheck with Griffith’s forward-thinking research methodologies, aims to develop a practical framework that incorporates local insights into tourism management. The goal is to create sustainable solutions by involving residents in assessing the carrying capacity of their hometowns.
PhD candidate Ly Nguyen
“Being co-funded by EarthCheck and Griffith offers me the benefit of having two strong support systems. On one hand, I receive academic and methodological guidance from Griffith University, and on the other hand, I gain industry insights from EarthCheck, which may not be available to traditional PhD students.”
The collaboration between GIFT and EarthCheck not only strengthens industry-academic ties, but also reinforces the Institute’s commitment to developing sustainable tourism strategies that consider economic, social, and environmental impacts.
Dr Truc Le, one of Ly’s PhD supervisors, has championed the co-funded scholarship with EarthCheck, leveraging her work experience as a research consultant with EarthCheck in 2021-2022
“It is my great pleasure to champion and facilitate such a meaningful and unique collaboration bridging the gap between academia and practice in sustainable tourism. I am also thankful for the dedicated support from our Higher Degree Research Convenor, Professor Brent Moyle, for helping us through the application and admission process.”
Transforming the graduate certificate program to prepare future teachers to embrace Indigenous ways of learning and empower them to become reflective and purposeful educators was the goal for the Griffith University Learning and Teaching support team.
The team was awarded the Council of Australasian University Leaders in Learning and Teaching 2024 CAULLT Academic Development Award for the most distinctive and innovative project which supported professional development in learning and teaching in universities.
Of the six finalists, Griffith won the top prize for a program which integrated inclusive learning techniques and helped graduates to deliver culturally responsive teaching experiences for learners.
GCULT Program Director Dr Kelly Shoecraft.
Griffith Certificate in University Learning and Teaching (GCULT) Program Director Dr Kelly Shoecraft said the new program aligned with Griffith’s strategic plan and positioning as a social justice university.
“Griffith’s educational offering is distinct, and it is important to empower our teachers to embed priorities such as First Peoples, sustainability, diversity and inclusion, and social justice into their own practice,” Dr Shoecraft said.
“The new Graduate Certificate in University Learning and Teaching provides a model for non-Indigenous colleagues to embrace Aboriginal ways of learning such as story sharing, connections to place, and multiple forms of communication.
“The redesign embodies the Yolηu people’s concept of ‘Ganma’, a genuine two-way knowledge-sharing experience which is symbolised by what happens when two different waters meet (salt and fresh water) and mix together to create something new.
“We expanded the definition of Scholarship in Learning and Teaching which allowed participants to look beyond typical academic journal articles and conference presentations to consider a wide range of communication methods such as art, yarning, workshops and infographics.
GCULT Program co-designer and Interim lead of Learning and Teaching (Indigenous) Dr Kerry Hall.
“Program participants overwhelmingly agreed the course had immediate practical value to their current role, and indicated the program increased their awareness and respect of Indigenous knowledges.”
Program co-designer and Interim lead of Learning and Teaching (Indigenous) Dr Kerry Hall said the purpose of this redesign was about unlearning and relearning, and leaning into the uncomfortable for non-Indigenous academics.
“The goal is to empower non-Indigenous academics to embed Indigenous knowledges into the curriculum,” Dr Hall said.
“It is an ongoing reflective project for both the design team and the participants in the program.”
Dr Hall said the symbol of the fire became an integral part of the course design because it represented regeneration and new ideas that start from a spark.
“We used the fire symbol throughout the courses to highlight conscious decisions in the course design and make explicit the rationale for these decisions.”
Course units were co-designed with Interim lead of Learning and Teaching (Indigenous) Dr Kerry Hall, Curriculum Design for Learning Course Convenor Dr Venessa Ercole, and Director of Higher Education Academy Fellowships Associate Professor Paula Myatt.
The 2024 Griffith University Blues Awards celebrated the exceptional achievements of our student-athletes who have excelled in both their sporting endeavors and academic pursuits in this Olympic year.
On a night when two more alumni were inducted into the University’s Sport Hall of Fame, the Awards night featured a brand-new category, the Junior Athlete of the Year.
This award recognised a Griffith student athlete who represented Australia at an international underage level.
The inaugural recipient was Torrie Lewis (Bachelor of Cyber Security), a debut Olympian who made waves at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
2024 Griffith Full Blue recipients2024 Half Blue recipients
Alongside her Olympic debut, Torrie claimed a silver medal at the World Junior Athletics Championship in the 200m, and currently holds the Australian record in the 100m.
The awards evening also celebrated the First Peoples Athlete of the Year, a new category aimed at honoring an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander athlete actively studying at Griffith University, who showed outstanding athletic performance over the past year.
Paralympian Madison de Rozario OAM
This year, the award went to Leesa Mi-Mi (Bachelor of Education) a talented netballer who plays for the Sunshine Coast Lightning.
Leesa played a pivotal role in her team reaching the final series and recently competed for Australia in the Fast Fives.
Professor Jonathan Bullen, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Indigenous), presented Leesa with this well-deserved award.
Recognising academic excellence in sport, the Academic Athlete of the Year award was presented to a Full Blue recipient who achieved the highest grade point average while balancing the demands of elite-level sport.
This 2024 awardee was Susan Seipel, a remarkable para-athlete who excelled both academically and in her sport of Para-canoe.
Susan, who is studying for a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours), not only maintained an outstanding GPA but also medaled at the 2024 Paralympics, taking to three the number of medals won at three Paralympic Games.
Paralympian gold medalist swimmer and Outstanding Athletic Achievement (para-athlete) awardee Tom Gallagher with Vice Chancellor Professor Carolyn Evans and Director (Sports Engagement) Naomi McCarthy
The night then moved to the highly anticipated Most Outstanding Athletic Achievement awards, which celebrated the athletes who have reached the pinnacle of their respective sports.
These awards were fiercely contested, with many exceptional performances considered.
The Most Outstanding Athletic Achievement (able-bodied) award was presented to Jessica Fox, an MBA student and four-time Olympian, who performed extraordinary feats in Paris.
Jess made history by becoming the first athlete to win two canoe slalom golds at the same Olympic Games, extending her Olympic medal count to six – a record unmatched in her sport.
Her success in Paris solidified her place as one of Australia’s greatest Olympians.
While Jess couldn’t attend in person, she sent a heartfelt video message expressing her gratitude for this honor.
The Most Outstanding Athletic Achievement (para-athlete) award went to Tom Gallagher (Bachelor of Architectural Design), whose crowning glory was at the Paralympics.
Tom won Australia’s first Gold medal of the Games in the men’s S10 50m freestyle with a blistering time of 23.40.
He also secured a bronze medal in both the 100m freestyle and 100m backstroke.
Tom’s incredible performance in Paris was a testament to his dedication, talent, and determination, and we congratulate him on this outstanding achievement.
A number of Griffith elite student athletes were on hand to be congratulated for achieving Half Blue and Full Blue awards.
Another two Griffith alumni were inducted into the University’s Sports Hall of Fame with four-time Olympian Leisel Jones (Bachelor of Psychological Science (2023) and two-time Para-Olympian and wheelchair basketballer Matt McShane (Bachelor of Industrial Design 2020) joining the likes of Naomi McCarthy OAM, Sara Carrigan, and Robert Newberry.
2024 Hall of Fame Inductee Leisel Jones OAM2024 Grififth Sport Hall of fame Inductee Matt McShane
A clinical trial to test the efficacy and safety of the transplantation of nasal cells to treat chronic spinal cord injury has received a philanthropic gift of a $100,000 donation from Terry and Rhonda White.
Professor James St John
Professor James St John from Griffith University’s Clem Jones Centre for Neurobiology and Stem Cell Research is spearheading the research, a legacy of the late Professor Emeritus Alan Mackay-Sim AM.
“The White family’s donation will go towards our trial which will test the safety and efficacy of transplanting olfactory ensheathing cells that are formulated into a nerve bridge,” Professor St John said.
“The trial, set to cost $14 million, will see people participate in the trial which involves combining the cell transplantation with intensive long-term rehabilitation.
“The trial has been designed through extensive consultation with the spinal injury and broader communities to ensure the best chance of success, and thanks to the White family’s generous donation and the incredible support of many other partners and community members, we are now set to enrol the first person in the trial in early 2025.”
Terry and Rhonda White’s donation came to fruition following the incredible work carried out by the late Professor Mackay-Sim, and Perry Cross.
“We saw many of our friends’ children who have lost so much through sporting injuries that have resulted in a spinal injury, including a friend’s son who was in Year 8 when he sustained a life-changing injury while playing rugby,” Mr and Ms White said.
“The staff members at TerryWhite Chemmart at Coorparoo have been supporters for many years as well, making a small contribution annually.
“Our admiration for the work being done by the people at Griffith University is immeasurable and it breaks our hearts to see so many young people sustain a spinal injury.
“We hope our donation, and the work being done by Professor St John, will see positive results.”
CEO of the Clem Jones Foundation, Peter Johnstone, said Rhonda and Terry White had set an example for others who may be in a position to embrace the concept of “giving while living”.
“Rhonda and Terry White’s generous support will hopefully spur others to support the work being undertaken at the Clem Jones Centre for Neurobiology and Stem Cell Research and enable them to keep up-to-date with the remarkable progress being made,” Mr Johnstone said.
“The Clem Jones Foundation’s own commitment to this research underlines the need for philanthropy to take a long-term approach to medical research because there are rarely ‘miracle’ breakthroughs or ‘overnight’ successes.
“Instead, life-changing achievements are made through the dedicated and patient work of researchers backed by equally committed financial supporters.”
Perry Cross from the Perry Cross Spinal Research Foundation said: “The White’s are an iconic Queensland family who have done a lot for the state.”
“They have supported our work to cure paralysis for many years and we are very grateful,” Mr Cross said.
“Finding a cure of this magnitude takes universal force and collective power.
“Every time someone links arms with us, our global movement strengthens, our voice gets louder, our presence more visible, and a cure becomes a reality.”
If you are interested in the trial, more information can be sought by emailing [email protected].
The ninth edition of the Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) wrapped up on 8 November, attracting an impressive 65,000 participants from 134 countries. The global gathering saw an influx of over 3,400 government and regulatory attendees representing central banks, regulatory institutions, and other government agencies in the Regulation Zone, where discussions focused on the policy and regulatory implications of emerging tech in finance, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions, quantum research, cross-border data flow, and digital assets.
Shawn Hunter, Industry Fellow (APEC) and Lead, Inclusive Growth and Rural Development Hub, Griffith Asia Institute.
Griffith Asia Institute (GAI) members, Shawn Hunter and Professor Andreas Chai, joined Griffith Business School colleague, Professor Ernest Foo and Elena Maran, Global Head of Financial Services and Responsible AI, Modulos AG, to contribute to these critical dialogues, making up a panel on “Dark Tech: How AAI and Malicious AI Solutions for Fraudsters are Evolving and How We Can Stop Them.” Their insights highlighted the challenges posed by adversarial AI in financial crime and explored strategies to counter such threats.
In the rapidly evolving world of financial technology (fintech), a dark side has emerged, as bad actors increasingly leverage AI to facilitate scams, evade detection, and exploit vulnerabilities. Known as “dark tech,” this subversive use of AI has been a concern for as long as the internet has existed, with milestones like Napster in the ’90s and the advent of the dark web in the 2000s. Today, AI tools like FraudGPT and WormGPT are being used by cybercriminals to conduct sophisticated fraud, often exploiting weaknesses in banking systems. With these malicious AI solutions, fraudsters can predict the behaviours of institutions, generate convincing fake content, and carry out blackmail schemes. By feeding false data or modifying malware, they evade traditional security measures, posing a severe reputational threat to the fintech industry.
Professor Andreas Chai, Director, Financial Crime Investigation and Compliance Academy, Griffith Business School, and member of the Griffith Asia Institute.
Adversarial AI (AAI) techniques, such as evasion and poisoning attacks, amplify these threats. Evasion attacks subtly alter malware to bypass detection, while poisoning attacks inject false data to corrupt AI models. Other techniques, like model inversion, expose sensitive data, raising privacy risks. As AI-powered fraud becomes more prevalent, experts emphasise the need for robust defences, like regular algorithm audits and adversarial training to help models resist malicious inputs. This is particularly important for AI in finance, where the consequences of compromise can lead to financial loss, privacy breaches, and even push customers away from formal financial services in favour of cash and shadow banking.
“A key challenge is balancing innovation with security, particularly for vulnerable populations at risk of financial exclusion,” remarked Shawn Hunter.
Increased reliance on AI can unintentionally disadvantage marginalised groups, who are more susceptible to fraud due to lower digital literacy. Collaborative efforts between financial institutions, regulators, and developers are critical. Comprehensive frameworks, like the EU AI Act, require transparency and accountability for high-risk AI systems, while cybersecurity regulations and international partnerships are essential to mitigate risks. Only through proactive measures and continuous research can the fintech industry protect itself against these evolving dark tech threats while ensuring financial inclusion remains accessible to all.
Professor Ernest Foo, Professor of Cyber-Security, Griffith Business School.
Organised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Global Finance and Technology Network (GFTN), and Constellar, in collaboration with The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS), the SFF has solidified its reputation as a premier global platform since its inception in 2016. This year’s festival, held from 6 to 8 November, proved to be a significant milestone for shaping the future of technology, policy, and finance, underscoring Singapore’s role as a hub for fintech innovation.
