The Singapore-based entrepreneur using generative AI to make complex text more visual

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.

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.

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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.

Most people’s brains aren’t wired to think, write and draw simultaneously. I’m lucky that I happen to love all three—and am able to do them at the same time.

We started as a boutique infographics studio and we want to push towards becoming an immersive storytelling powerhouse that is focused on the conversion of art and technology. AI is our first push towards creating visual stories at scale. We want people to be able to drag and drop an annual report, keynote speech and so on into [our platform to generate] easy-to-digest infographics.

We’re also looking to develop hardware products, including drawing robots that can be used at conferences and a plug-and-play Internet of Things sensor kit that can allow, for instance, a mural to be interactive.

My Series A dream is to move into AI ethics. I’m interested in a lot of things in the space, including how to defend copyright and how creatives without money can defend their creative rights.

I want to build a royalty system for creatives when Thoth has gained more leverage. Many illustrators release their artwork for free under the Creative Commons licence, which makes them easy to appropriate, but these are valuable IPs (intellectual property) that can be monetised.

Entrepreneurship has been an extremely humbling journey for me. We’ll always make mistakes even if we try our best, but it’s inevitable because we’re only human.

Running your business means having to deal with all of your flaws every day. It’s easy to be a good person when you’re alone in the middle of a jungle, but the moment you’re negotiating contracts or you’re a mum or an employer, it becomes difficult.

For a long time, I wrestled with my identity as an entrepreneur and artist. When I was in college, I once joked with my theology professor when I didn’t submit my homework that I’ll become a businesswoman one day. That joke actually came true.

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Topics

AI Artificial Intelligence Technology Singapore Art Design Entrepreneur Startup

Tatler Asia

This entrepreneur is making annual reports less boring