Forum: AI adoption not just about numbers but whether people have a stake

I was talking recently with five seniors who were discussing artificial intelligence. Two spoke positively about how AI could boost productivity at work. The other three were far more apprehensive, seeing it as a threat to their jobs and relevance.

It was a small, informal exchange, but it brought home what a recent Blackbox Research SensingSG survey found on a national scale: 72 per cent of Singaporeans expect older workers to be left behind by AI, 71 per cent believe companies will capture most of the gains, and 69 per cent expect the skills gap to widen. Tellingly, the report itself concludes that training alone will not close these divides.

As Singapore pushes AI adoption, much of the current effort focuses on teaching people how to use new tools. But knowing how to use AI is not the same as feeling secure about one’s place alongside it. Someone can complete a course on an AI application and still privately wonder whether the technology will make their years of experience less valuable.

If confidence, not just competence, is part of the gap, our AI literacy efforts should reflect that. Beyond skills training, we could build in structured opportunities ^_ at community centres, workplaces, or SkillsFuture-linked sessions ^_ for seniors and workers in transition to discuss openly what AI means for their jobs and their relevance, guided by people who can speak honestly to both the productivity gains and the genuine uncertainty involved.

The goal is not to reassure people falsely, but to help them see concretely where their judgment, experience and human contact still carry weight and that AI does not replace.

Singapore’s AI ambitions should not be measured only by adoption rates. They should also be measured by whether people across generations feel they still have a stake, and a future, in the transformation.

Adren Sim