Singapore’s universities race to embrace AI as job demands transform

After years of concern over students using artificial intelligence to cut corners, Singapore’s universities are embracing the technology, driven not just by changes in the classroom but by pressure to prepare graduates for an economy that increasingly prizes AI literacy.

But analysts say educators still face the challenge of ensuring students use AI to sharpen their critical thinking rather than relying on it for quick answers and guidance.

On August 11, the National University of Singapore (NUS) announced that its students and faculty members would have access to ChatGPT Edu, an enterprise-grade platform by OpenAI, from August 31.

The platform would be piloted in selected courses during the initial phase and be progressively made available for other courses where AI “adds educational value and augments learning objectives”, the university said in a statement.

Other universities are also expanding the use of the technology, with many mandating AI literacy courses.

Starting this month, students at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) were given full access to a suite of Google AI tools, including Gemini Enterprise, as part of what the institution coined an “ambitious effort to transform its undergraduate education with AI”.

The university aimed to embed AI into 40 per cent of its courses by 2030, to reach its goal of producing students who could create and work with AI agents, it said.