In a commentary, SMU Dean of the School of Economics & Lee Kong Chian Professor of Economics Li Jia, and Pillar Lead for SMU’s Resilient Workforces Institute (ResWORK) opined that in letting artificial intelligence (AI) in, it’s worth asking more questions about direction, human learning, and plans for the next generation of graduates. Prof Li noted that like many policymakers and researchers around the world, Singapore is grappling with what AI means for jobs and for workers. Citing recent research by SMU’s
ResWORK, he noted that Singapore’s economy is heavily exposed to AI. Prof Li added that a large share of its employment sits in cognitive tasks – finance, professional services, public administration, logistics coordination and software – exactly the activities where generative AI is most directly capable. He mentioned that recent labour-economics research suggests that the impact of AI across the skill spectrum is unlikely to be uniform. Heavy manual work is largely untouched in the near term. Prof Li added that at the very high end, AI tends to augment workers and raise the value of their judgment.