Edwin Tong’s AI Birthday Gift: The Real Warmth behind a Tuxedo and “Fake News”
Source: Lianhe Zaobao
Article Date: 14 Sep 2026
Author: Poh Lay Hoon
Tong, who turned 57 in August, received a gift from his Ministry of Law team — a picture book titled 57 Totally Unofficial, Unverified and Unsolicited Observations about Our 57-Year-Old Boss, vividly documenting the Minister’s various quirks.
This article was first published on 26 August 2026 in the Singapore Mandarin broadsheet, Lianhe Zaobao.
SLW obtained permission to reproduce the article to give the legal community a broader view of legal reports for various news syndicates.
“I have to make it absolutely clear, that’s definitely not me! Even on my birthday, I would never wear a tuxedo to work!”
At the otherwise serious opening of the Global Forum on Intellectual Property (IP), Minister for Law Edwin Tong drew laughter from the audience with this self-deprecating remark. He then told the audience: “All of that was generated using AI (artificial intelligence).”
Tong, who turned 57 in August, received a gift from his Ministry of Law team — a picture book titled 57 Totally Unofficial, Unverified and Unsolicited Observations about Our 57-Year-Old Boss, vividly documenting the Minister’s various quirks.
The book was accompanied by a fictitious AI-generated newspaper article featuring an image of Tong, smartly dressed in a tuxedo and enthusiastically holding up the picture book at a book launch in his office.
Tong said that while the gift was produced fairly easily with the help of AI, substantial human involvement was still required: someone had to come up with the bold idea; someone had to prompt the AI, refine the generated outputs and put everything together into a final product.
Therefore, AI did not replace human creativity. Instead, it dramatically expanded what humans could do. In the past, a project like this might have required specialists such as an illustrator, photographer and journalist. Today, it can be produced much more quickly, with fewer resources, and by people who may not possess any of those specialist skills.
IP Protection Must Keep Pace with AI and Turn Human Creativity into Value
Tong cited his birthday gift as an example of a much broader shift that everyone will encounter. Today, AI is already generating micro-dramas, music, characters, games, slogans, advertisements, product designs and computer code — even molecules and materials. In future, it could even help create new drugs.
AI is changing not only how things are created, but also who can create, what can be created, and the cost and speed of creation.
Tong reflected, however, that the real value of the birthday gift from his team did not lie in how AI had helped them create the picture book and fictitious news report in such a short time. The true meaning of the gift came from the people behind it — their thought, effort and creativity.
He said AI has opened up limitless possibilities, and this transformation is far from over. The application of AI is bound to become broader, deeper and more innovative. But ultimately, it is human ingenuity that gives those possibilities meaning and, ultimately, value.
The IP system must therefore continue to evolve alongside technological advances. It must remain dynamic rather than static to continue to encourage human ingenuity. It must help turn that ingenuity into value, and give people the confidence to keep creating.
Source: Lianhe Zaobao © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.
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