Prepare for disruption, but AI won’t kill jobs: Singapore DPM

AI For Business


  • Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said he expects technology, including artificial intelligence, to disrupt the labor market, but that it won’t eliminate jobs entirely.
  • At the Asiatech x Singapore 2023 Summit, Wong said, “We are living in a future without jobs, a dystopia where machines take over everything and humans are upset because technology can replace some tasks. I don’t believe we’ll end up with a future without jobs,” he said.
  • What will really change is the nature of blue-collar and white-collar jobs, Wong said, adding that workers need to learn to adjust and adapt in the imminent disruption caused by AI.

Lawrence Wong, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Singapore.

Kiyoshi Ota | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said he expects technology, including artificial intelligence, to disrupt the labor market, but that it won’t eliminate jobs entirely.

In fact, technology can make humans more productive and create more jobs, he said at the Asiatech x Singapore summit on Tuesday.

“I end up in a jobless future, a dystopian jobless future where machines do everything for humans and humans get upset because technology can replace some tasks. I don’t believe that,” Wong said.

The summit will bring together government officials, global business executives and consumers for four days to discuss the role of technology in the future.

Wong, who is also the city-state’s finance minister, said it was the “nature of work in blue-collar and white-collar occupations” that would change, adding that “the pace of change will accelerate and the scale of disruption will increase over time.” Let’s go,” he warned. ”

He added, “It can also improve productivity in doing other tasks, which will create new tasks and new jobs.”

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AI has become the new buzzword in the business world, thanks to the rapid virality of the chatbot ChatGPT, which was released in November. An AI-powered chatbot that can generate human-like responses to user prompts has reached his 100 million users in just two months of its launch.

Some researchers and analysts even suggest that it could lead to human extinction and job losses.

These experts, including Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT owner OpenAI, as well as executives from Google’s AI division DeepMind and Microsoft, also make mitigating the risks associated with AI a global priority. I asked.

The International Monetary Fund’s First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath also warned of a “major disruption” to the labor market and of “enormous” risks arising from generative AI, as reported by the Financial Times. She also called on the government to introduce regulations to control the technology.

Singapore’s Wong said workers need to learn to adapt and adapt in the imminent disruption caused by AI.

“Naturally, this will cause anxiety for those less adaptable and adaptable. We will all work harder to update it.”

“We can’t leave this up to the market, and we can’t say it’s just the employer’s responsibility,” Wong said.

He added that regulators: “Comprehensive support” such as matching of human resources and ability development is required. “This will require concerted and proactive efforts on the part of government, industry and training providers,” Wong said.

Wong said Singapore launched AI Verify, the world’s first testing toolkit, to help companies objectively assess and verify whether their AI products are responsible and meet international principles. It says.

He added that the country will continue to work with industry on pilot projects to promote the development of AI testing standards.



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