Idea Ink’s Chia Yee Hui has developed a platform that uses art and artificial intelligence to improve storytelling and communication
Artificial intelligence (AI) is having a moment. According to experts, AI could bring about a significant shift in the history of life on Earth, as it pushes the boundaries of innovation— from automating repetitive tasks traditionally taken on by humans to powering important inventions in sectors such as healthcare. But with the rise of advanced systems such as ChatGPT, a natural language processing tool that can give a detailed response by following instructions in a text‑based prompt, questions are rising around the safety and regulation of AI.
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This is an area entrepreneur Chia Yee Hui has a keen interest. “I’m building an AI software, so I’m part of the problem,” she quips. Chia runs an AI web platform called Thoth, which automates the translation of complex text transcripts such as a company’s annual report into easy‑to‑read infographics.
Thoth emerged from Chia’s consultancy business, Idea Ink, which specialises in live graphic recording and interactive infographics. One of the services that Chia and her team at Idea Ink provide is the real‑time visual summarisation of conference talks and discussions to help attendees understand complex topics more easily.
While Chia has had a natural inclination for art and drawing since she was young, it was only in college that she came across the concept of graphic recording through a friend. Her first official gig took place about eight years ago when she was studying theology at Cambridge University. She was invited to create visual summaries for a biotechnology conference—and has not looked back since.
She started off as a solo freelancer working at different conferences, before hiring more people to help her. “Suddenly, it became a business,” she recalls with a laugh. Since then, Chia and her team have worked with the likes of Meta, the Singapore Fintech Festival and Hong Kong’s Cyberport. The team has also worked on other visual projects, such as annual reports, murals and interactive websites, for GIC, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Standard Chartered.
With Thoth, Chia has embarked on a private pilot with KPMG. The platform will launch publicly in January next year. She shares more about AI ethics and running a business.
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