Anti-AI sentiment cannot be ignored: Jasmin Lau

[SINGAPORE] Even as there may be some anti-artificial intelligence feelings among workers and younger students, “these sentiments are not meant to be ignored”, said Acting Minister for Manpower Jasmin Lau on Thursday (Sep 17).

Lau, who is also Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information, noted the “groundswell” of people who fear that AI will be used to take away their jobs and ambitions, and some quarters have also raised concerns about the environmental damage caused by the use of the technology.

“They are real sentiments, real emotions, and there’s a lot more we need to do to ensure that we hold Singapore society together,” she said at the Singapore Institute of Technology in the Punggol Digital District.

While Singapore wants AI to be adopted widely, she urged employers to communicate openly with workers about retrenchments, hiring plans and automation.

She added that employers facing a weak business outlook should explain it to their workers, otherwise workers might attribute organisational changes to AI.

“Don’t take a quiet workforce for an agreeable workforce,” she said. “I would encourage many of you to be a lot more transparent with your workforce.”

Her comments came in her opening address at SG AI Xchange, a forum at which business leaders share their experiences of implementing AI in Singapore, including the difficulties they face.

Nearly 100 AI hubs have been set up in Singapore since 2024.

Such centres develop customised AI solutions through in-house research and development which companies can integrate into their workflows and products.

These hubs also offer local workers structured training, apprenticeship opportunities and real-world project opportunities.

A spokesperson from the Singapore Economic Development Board said that AI centres of excellence “stimulate demand” among local startups, cloud providers, consultancies and implementation partners.

These AI hubs are not limited to tech-related fields. As companies begin adopting AI in their workflow, non-technology sectors such as consumer and mobility have also begun setting up their AI hubs.

Lau said the government wants Singapore to be a place “where companies can safely build, deploy and scale AI with strong partners and talent behind them”.

“Keep investing in your AI capabilities here, and keep putting what you learn into practice,” she said in her address.

Do not leave fresh graduates behind

Lau said translating AI capabilities into tangible improvements would require workers with the skills and confidence to use AI tools.

This is why the government, along with the Infocomm Media Development Authority and data-management firm Databricks, launched a programme on Wednesday (Sep 16) that aims to train 20,000 workers in Singapore.

On that note, Lau urged employers to hire young graduates.

“Those of you hesitating to take on new young graduates, please do so because they need that first step in their career ladder to start their career journeys,” she said.

She added that employers unsure about how jobs will evolve should have confidence that fresh graduates can adapt along with the jobs.

“Give them a bit of that training, give them a bit of industry exposure, so that they can also be part of our stronger workforce in future,” she said.