Over the next three to five years, Singapore aims to more than triple the number of artificial intelligence (AI) practitioners here to 15,000, and establish an “iconic” site to nurture the country’s AI community.
These form part of Singapore’s updated National AI Strategy (NAIS) 2.0, launched by the government on Monday (Dec 4).
To grow the talent pool, the AI Apprenticeship Programme, from which 300 Singaporeans have graduated as of September, will be redesigned and scaled up. The government will also work with industry AI product development teams to expand company attachments.
The government will intensify the promotion of AI adoption across all enterprises, and develop targeted AI training programmes to upskill the workforce using the Industry Transformation Maps and Jobs Transformation Maps.
At the same time, Singapore will continue to welcome global AI talent. A dedicated team will be set up to identify and engage world-class AI creators and anchor them in the local ecosystem.
A dedicated site at a yet-to-be-announced location will bring these AI creators and users together to form the kind of tight-knit knowledge community critical for innovation, according to the government’s report on NAIS 2.0.
Speaking at the launch of NAIS 2.0, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said that while discussions about AI’s potential benefits and threats are not new, the world is headed into “unchartered territory”.
“But in time to come, we will have AI systems with agency and with transactional abilities. We will have machines with human-like cognitive abilities and the capacity for self-awareness and independent decision-making.”
This will fundamentally reshape humanity’s way of life, with profound implications for societies, he said.
The government said it needs to work with AI producers and users in a more concerted way because “responsible development and deployment do not happen by chance”.
CNA
