Leaving no one behind in Singapore's AI push: Tan Kiat How
'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 use AI tools and learn the right approach to it, Tan noted.
In addition, ambassadors from the SG Digital Office are teaching the elderly digital skills such as Gen AI.
A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU
Friday, 8.30 am SGSME
Get updates on Singapore's SME community, along with profiles, news and tips.
Sign Up
Sign Up
Tan gave the example of an auntie using Gen AI to find a simplified recipe for fish and chips, 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, Thailand, 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 various managers and executives.
It provides employees with personalised, on-demand career guidance to help them navigate the workplace.
Available around the clock, the virtual coach draws on DBS' roles, functions and internal mobility pathways to deliver relevant career advice.
Seventy per cent of coached employees saw improvements in work performance, relationships and communication, while 80 per cent reported higher self-confidence, indicated data from International Coaching Federation and Better Up Career Coaching.
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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
5 hours ago
- Straits Times
Spanish teen under investigation over nude AI images of classmates
Find out what's new on ST website and app. The probe was launched after 16 young women came forward to complain of AI-generated images of them circulating on social media and the internet. MADRID – Spanish police said July 27 they were investigating a 17-year-old on suspicion of using artificial intelligence to deepfake nude images of female classmates for sale. The probe was launched after 16 young women at an educational institute in the Valencia region came forward to complain of AI-generated images of them circulating on social media and the internet. The first complaint was lodged in December 2024 by an teen who said an AI-generated video and fake photos resembling her 'completely naked' were posted on a social media account started under her name. As more accusations came in, police suspected the images were the work of a student in the same institute, according to a statement by the police. Tracking the IP addresses used to create the bogus accounts led them to the home of the 17-year-old now under investigation on suspicion of corruption of minors. It is not the first time that the Spanish authorities have detected AI-created pornographic images of minors. The government in March said it would put forward a law to treat such deepfaked sexual imagery created by AI without consent as a crime. The Bill, which Madrid claims to be a first in Europe, has yet to be passed by the Parliament. AFP
CNA
6 hours ago
- CNA
Indian tech company TCS to cut workforce by 2%, affecting more than 12,000 jobs
BENGALURU :India's largest IT services provider Tata Consultancy Services will reduce its workforce by 2 per cent in its 2026 financial year, primarily affecting middle and senior management, the company said on Sunday. The company is retraining and redeploying staff as it enters new markets, invests in new technology and deploys AI, but about 12,200 jobs will be cut as part of the process, it said. "This transition is being planned with due care to ensure there is no impact on service delivery to our clients," the company added. India's $283 billion IT sector has had to contend with clients holding back non-essential technology spending because of weak demand, persistent inflation and lingering uncertainty over U.S. trade policies.
Business Times
14 hours ago
- Business Times
Samsung reasserts clout as top South Korean stock on AI catch-up hopes
[HONG KONG] Samsung Electronics has at least briefly reassumed its place as South Korea's most important stock, as investors eye chances for it to eventually make up lost ground in advanced memory chips for artificial intelligence (AI). Its shares are up 10 per cent in July, while those of smaller rival SK Hynix have dropped nearly 8 per cent. Samsung has accounted for more than a third of this month's gain in Korea's Kospi, the world's best-performing major equity index this year. 'In the past one month, we noted growing interest from investors on Samsung's comeback in the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market,' JPMorgan Chase analyst Jay Kwon wrote in a Jul 8 note. 'We see Samsung R&D progress moving in a positive direction.' The market is betting on further gains in Samsung shares, which have seen a net inflow of about US$1.2 billion in July, while those of SK Hynix have notched an outflow of more than US$200 million. Meanwhile, short interest in Samsung has retreated over the past few months as bearish wagers on SK Hynix climbed. Samsung has long dominated Kospi, with its current 15 per cent weighting still about double that of hard-charging No 2 SK Hynix. Yet SK Hynix shares have been the biggest index driver over the past two years, as investors cheered its early jump in the supply of HBM memory to work with Nvidia's AI processors. Leadership in HBM is unlikely to change in the near term, with SK Hynix unveiling plans for more spending on additional capacity as it reported record earnings on Thursday (Jul 24). Investors are anticipating that things will start to turn around for Samsung however, driving gains in its stock since it posted a profit decline earlier this month. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up 'The preliminary results were bad, but the shares didn't fall, that's what a bottom looks like,' said Marcello Seongsoo Ahn, a portfolio manager at Quad Investment Management. 'The equity market is always six months ahead, meaning the tipping point of the stock price is maybe now.' All eyes are on the next generation of AI memory, with SK Hynix and US-based Micron Technology having already shipped samples of their HBM4 chips to customers. Analysts are increasingly touting prospects for Samsung to catch up sometime in the next year or two, with approvals from Nvidia being the key point to watch. SK Hynix's shares fell 1.3 per cent on Friday even after reporting record earnings for the June quarter, as analysts cautioned about intensifying competition in the HBM market. Sanford C Bernstein analyst Mark Li estimates SK Hynix has a 57 per cent share of the overall HBM market in 2025, followed by Samsung at 27 per cent and Micron at 16 per cent. By 2027, he sees the two Korean chipmakers holding 38 per cent each and Micron trailing at 24 per cent. A sign of caution for the overall industry was flagged by Goldman Sachs when it downgraded SK Hynix last week, on a forecast decline in HBM pricing next year, in addition to gains by competitors. Other risks include geopolitical tensions and tariffs, as well as possible new market entrants from China, much further down the line. There are other positive catalysts as well, including the outlook for Samsung's smartphone business, as well as its efforts to improve governance and raise valuations. Jay Y Lee, executive chairman and grandson of the group's founder, has survived legal challenges and is gradually shuffling management. 'It's interesting to see the changes that are going on at Samsung,' including its progress with Nvidia, said Tim Campbell, chief executive officer and managing partner of Edinburgh-based Baillie Gifford. There has also been a move towards loosening the founding family's grip, and 'that could be exciting if they manage to do that'. The company's detailed second-quarter earnings report is due on Jul 31. BLOOMBERG
