AI cannot supplant learning; it must enable it: Desmond Lee

Just as important to foster curiosity and social-emotional skills in kids, he says

- Elisha Tushara

Young people need to develop strong judgment, reasoning abilities and foundational knowledge, even as artificial intelligence (AI) tools are able to perform both mundane and complex tasks, said Minister for Education Desmond Lee.

AI cannot supplant learning—it must enable it, he said to the media on July 8 at Oasis Primary School in Punggol, in his first school visit since his appointment as education minister.

Other key priorities for the Ministry of Education (MOE) include helping students develop social and emotional skills and effect a "generational shift" away from competition based on grades and towards a passion for learning.

Mr Lee cited the example of how AI could help young lawyers draft submissions, but only those with proper training and experience are able to assess and improve on the AI output.

"You can tell what is right, what is wrong. What is real and what is not, and what is right for your situation," he said.

To this end, Mr Lee said it is important to prepare children for an AI-pervasive future, while also fostering in them curiosity and social-emotional skills.

This would first require the age-appropriate use of AI in classrooms and teaching children about what AI is and its limits.

With social and emotional skills becoming increasingly important—not just in school, but also in workplaces and the wider community—this is another area of focus for MOE.

Mr Lee said: "All these social-emotional skills can be more important than just your academic hard knowledge."

These include compassion, expressing oneself appropriately, navigating challenging environments and being able to self-regulate and empathize with others.