No one to be left behind in Singapore's AI push, says Tan Kiat How

Business Times

2 days ago

[SINGAPORE] The government is doing all it can to help companies, workers and citizens harness the potential of artificial intelligence (AI), said Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information Tan Kiat How at an event on Tuesday (Jul 22).
'We are putting in place the infrastructure, the investment ecosystem to help companies and workers make full use of this technology', he said in a speech at the DBS 'Live Fulfilled' employee carnival.
To help small businesses adopt AI, the government is running programmes such as SMEs Go Digital, which provides financial support for the adoption of advanced digital tools such as Gen AI, he said.
There are also efforts to ensure that companies stay safe from potential cyberattacks – whether they are large enterprises often facing online threats, or smaller businesses that are still vulnerable.
By supporting the integration of AI in companies' work processes, the government is also giving workers the opportunity to learn the right way to use AI tools, Tan noted.
In addition, ambassadors from the SG Digital Office are teaching the elderly digital skills such as Gen AI.
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Tan gave the example of a grandmother using Gen AI to find a simplified recipe for fish and chips, which she wanted to cook for her grandson. 'We are not leaving anyone behind (in the adoption of AI)', he said.
He believes that AI will not steal the jobs of human workers because there are many tasks it cannot perform.
In the tech sector, AI can generate code efficiently – but someone needs to define what the code should do and whether it is reliable.
Although the nature of jobs may change, 'in Singapore, especially when we don't have enough people, there will always be jobs', he said.
Companies may be anxious about using AI, so large institutions such as DBS can 'lead by example' through active adoption of the technology, he noted.
DBS introduces AI career coach
At the carnival, DBS launched iCoach – a Gen AI-powered virtual coach for its employees.
The program can be accessed by the bank's offices in Singapore, Indonesia, India, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, a spokesperson from the bank said during a product demonstration.
iCoach's knowledge base was developed jointly with Marshall Goldsmith, a career coach with more than four decades of experience working with managers and executives.
The virtual coach provides employees with personalised, on-demand career guidance to help them navigate the workplace.
Available around the clock, it draws on DBS' roles, functions and internal mobility pathways to deliver relevant career advice.
Seventy per cent of coached employees made improvements in work performance, relationships and communication, and 80 per cent reported higher self-confidence, data from International Coaching Federation and Better Up Career Coaching indicated.
In response to The Business Times' query on whether iCoach will be used widely by DBS employees, the bank's spokesperson said the launch event was a key attempt at raising awareness of the tool.
Employees also have access to human resource software that may guide them to iCoach, she added.