A new divide at work: The Al fluent and the Al fearful

The problem with AI? Not everyone learns at the same pace.

- Daniel Chan

Singapore's first bilingual project was about survival: learning to speak two tongues to stay connected to the world. The next will be about conscience - learning to speak with machines without surrendering our own voice, or the sovereignty of our thought, the writer says.

(PHOTO: BLOOMBERG)

Imagine this: A young analyst finishes her client report in 20 minutes using AI.

Her manager, twice her age, spends two hours on the same task. Both produce good work, but only one leaves early.

This small difference foreshadows a larger divide in Singapore's working future. Some will be "AI bilinguals" - fluent in the "second language" of AI. Others will still be learning the alphabet.

When Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo spoke of creating “AI bilinguals”, she described those who can think in two tongues - the mother tongue of professional expertise, and a new national language of AI.

Just as English once connected Singaporeans to the world and generated business opportunities, this new fluency promises to connect human expertise with AI, transforming work and improving economic outcomes.

The problem is, not everyone learns at the same pace. This new form of bilingualism could split society into those proficient in AI and those left behind.

Younger professionals seem to pick up this language effortlessly, through trial and error, much like learning a second language by immersion. A Google-Harris poll in 2024 found that 93 per cent of Gen Z and 79 per cent of millennial office-based workers use two or more AI tools per week.

Older workers hesitate; not from inability, but from fear of being judged when they fumble. Many worry that using AI might make them look unskilled, slow, or even replaceable. Yet, they hold deep institutional knowledge and the professional “mother tongue” that keeps organisations running.