AI Education, the Essence is People

Thank you for inviting me to contribute to this special feature in celebration of THE AI’s 5^th anniversary. Across the world, societies are grappling with a common set of questions: How do we harness AI’s transformative power responsibly? How do we equip our people, systems, and institutions to thrive in an AI-driven world?

In many ways, the moment we are in today mirrors other historic turning points such as the Industrial Revolution of the 1900s or the digital revolution of the late 1990s, where breakthroughs in technology fundamentally reshaped how we live, work, and learn. AI today, especially generative AI, is comparable in scale and significance. It has the potential to accelerate learning, personalise experiences, and completely transform the way knowledge is accessed and applied. It is a quantum leap in the human experience.

To fully appreciate the implications of AI in education, we must first situate it within the broader ecosystem in which it operates. In Singapore, we do not see AI as merely a technological tool. We see it as a powerful enabler for national transformation across economy, society, and education. My response will therefore begin from this macro perspective before turning to specific considerations in education.

Background on The Singapore Approach

As a small, open, and forward-looking nation, Singapore has long thrived by anticipating global shifts and positioning itself as a strategic hub, whether in sectors like trade, finance, aviation, or innovation. Our national strategies are underpinned by three key principles:

1. A big-picture, systems-level approach to national strategy and policy
2. Integrated planning and implementation across sectors and ministries
3. Deep investment in people and capability development

1. Big-Picture, Systems-Level Approach

Singapore views AI not simply as a tool, but as a strategic national enabler. This is reflected in our big-picture, multi-pronged approach involving the development of robust frameworks, fostering of international partnerships, and embedding of AI across priority sectors. Singapore was one of the first countries to launch a National AI Strategy (NAIS) in 2019, which was refreshed in 2023 as NAIS 2.0. This strategy outlines a whole-of-nation effort to harness AI for economic growth and social good. Since the inception of NAIS, national-level AI projects have been implemented in healthcare, transport, public safety, finance, and education. A notable example is the Tuas Mega Port, envisioned as one of the world’s largest and most advanced AI-powered shipping ports which integrates robotics, predictive analytics, and intelligent logistic systems to optimise port operations. Recognising the importance of responsible AI governance, the Model AI Governance Framework, developed in 2020 and updated in 2024 to address the rise of generative AI, translates ethical principles into practical guidelines. It proposes nine key dimensions that support the development of a trusted AI environment that is accountable, transparent, and human-centric.

To power this national effort, Singapore has invested over S$500 million in AI R&D through our national Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) plans. We also participate actively in global governance platforms including the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI), World Economic Forum’s AI Governance Alliance, and the United Nations High-Level Advisory Body on AI. We partner with leading technology firms, including Google, Microsoft, and IBM, to co-develop solutions and align on standards. As a small nation, we recognise the importance of tapping on global expertise while building strong local capabilities.

2. Integrated, Cross-Sector Planning & Implementation

Singapore's ability to scale AI implementation lies in our commitment to integrated and cross-sector planning and collaboration. Government agencies, public institutions, and industry partners collaborate meaningfully to ensure coherence. Our model of integration has been tested in times of crisis and proven effective. For instance, multi-ministry integration during the pandemic, facilitated by the Multi-Ministry Taskforce, enabled the swift, coordinated, and efficient rollout of pandemic measures across sectors.

For AI implementation, the integration between the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech) and various ministries and sectors is a key enabler. GovTech is a government statutory board which leads the development of digital infrastructure and plays a central role in building foundational capabilities such as data exchange systems, AI governance toolkits, and tech stacks that power applications. It collaborates closely with various ministries to plan and implement technological solutions. For example, it collaborates with the National Environment Agency to deploy services like myENV, a one-stop platform for information on environment, water services and food safety in Singapore, as well as the Ministry of Education, to deploy the Parents Gateway, a government app that enhances communication between parents and schools.

3. People & Capability Development

Ultimately, the power of AI enabled by the people who shape, use, and govern it. Singapore’s long-standing focus on human capital development is utmost critical to our AI journey. We are equipping our population with both technical and ethical competencies, that would allow them to lead and collaborate on AI innovation, adopt AI in the workplace, and navigate ethical considerations within the AI space. This begins with education.

AI in Singapore Education

Singapore has been at the forefront of AI development in education. As part of our Smart Nation vision, AI-powered tools are increasingly being integrated into schools to support personalised learning, streamline administrative processes, and generate data-driven insights to inform curriculum refinement and teaching strategies.

However, Singapore does not approach AI in education merely as a set of tools to be deployed. Aligned with its national approach as outlined above, we adopt a big-picture, systemic and integrated approach, recognising that technology and AI must be integrated within broader educational philosophies, pedagogical practices, and long-term national goals. The EdTech Masterplan 2030, launched by the Ministry of Education (MOE), articulates a clear vision: “technology-transformed learning, to prepare students for a technology-transformed world”. This vision calls for a fundamental shift in how students learn, how teachers teach, and how schools and systems operate.

One of the most pressing global concerns is that the rapid adoption of AI could widen socio-economic and educational disparities. Singapore’s approach has been to raise the baseline for all learners, ensuring that foundational digital platforms, such as the Student Learning Space (SLS), are accessible to every student across the nation.

The EdTech Masterplan 2030 sets out four strategic outcome areas:

1. Students - Digitally empowered, future-ready learners and innovators
2. Teachers - Technologically adept, collaborative designers of learning
3. Schools - Intelligent, responsive, digitally equipped learning environments
4. Systems - A trusted, networked EdTech ecosystem

In the reflections that follow, I share specific insights aligned with several of the above strategic domains, while addressing the broader opportunities and challenges posed by AI in education.

1. Personalised Learning and Holistic Development of Students

AI offers immense promise in restoring 1-to-1 personalised learning, which was historically lost due to mass education. Today, AI-powered systems allow us to tailor content, pacing, and feedback to individual learner needs, supporting both those who need greater scaffolding and those ready to be further challenged.

The Student Learning Space (SLS), launched in 2018, was initially built with basic functions to provide students with access to national learning resources online. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it played a pivotal role in maintaining continuity of learning. Today, SLS is evolving into a generative AI-enhanced platform, incorporating large language models to support adaptive learning, content generation, and personalised feedback. Tools such as the Adaptive Learning System (ALS), particularly in subjects like Mathematics and Languages, offer data-driven learning pathways and real-time progress monitoring. Increasingly, AI is also enabling collaborative, inquiry-based, and creative learning experiences that go beyond the traditional classroom model.

Developmentally Appropriate Use of AI in Early Childhood

Yet, while we embrace these advancements, we must remain anchored in child and human development science, particularly in the early years which form the critical foundation of lifelong learning and well-being. The period from birth to age six is widely recognised in research as a formative stage for cognitive, emotional, and social development. It is during this time that children begin to build their sense of identity, self-regulation, and capacity for learning, all of which are fundamentally shaped through human-to-human interactions.

Therefore, AI in education must align with the phases of human development. We cannot apply the same approach to AI used in primary or secondary education directly to early childhood. In this phase, the child’s most essential need is not access to more content, but access to deep, responsive human relationships which build their human character. As emphasised by research from the Harvard Center on the Developing Child, experiences such as “serve and return” interactions between caregiver and child are vital for the strengthening of neural connections and therefore healthy development. 

In early childhood, AI should play a supportive, not substitutive, role. The focus must be on enhancing human connection, not automating it. For example, AI can guide parents and caregivers on how to interact meaningfully with their child, recommend developmentally appropriate materials or activities, or offer feedback and suggestions to educators on classroom interactions and routines. In this context, AI serves as a co-pilot to the adult, helping to enrich the quality of interactions between children and their caregivers or teachers. This framing sets the parameters for AI use in early childhood education: supportive of, but never a substitute for, the most essential ingredient - human connection.

2. Teachers as Designers of Learning in the Age of AI

To fully realise the benefits of AI in education, we must go beyond equipping teachers to be passive tool users. Instead, we must empower educators to be designers of AI-enhanced learning experiences. This requires deep pedagogical understanding, ethical discernment, and cognitive flexibility, qualities that cannot be outsourced to machines but must be held by humans to use machines responsibly.

The National Institute of Education (NIE) is taking deliberate steps to build this capacity through the AI@NIE initiative, which aims to embed AI competencies across all teacher education programmes by 2026. All pre-service and in-service teachers will receive training in the foundational principles of AI in education, including exposure to emerging applications such as machine learning, generative AI, and neural networks. Importantly, training should go beyond technical proficiency to encompass the ethical and cognitive dimensions of AI integration. For instance, NIE proposed that effective design of learning with generative AI entails four key considerations:

• Knowing the learning objectives
• Knowing critical cognition and processes that students need to develop
• Determining when and how AI should be introduced
• Understanding the respective strengths of human and AI capabilities, and how to leverage them in the learning process

In line with this, I developed the HIGHER thinking model which provides a cognitive and ethical framework to guide teachers, and by extension, their students, in navigating an AI-powered world with intentionality and wisdom. While using AI, these thinking capacities are crucial:

• H – Helicopter Thinking: Seeing the big picture, making interdisciplinary connections, and framing learning from AI within broader contexts
• I – Inferential Thinking: Drawing contextually relevant insights and meaning from data and patterns
• G – Generative Thinking: Exploring divergent ideas, innovating, and creating new knowledge with AI with the right questions and prompts
• H – Human-Centric Thinking: Continuing to value empathy, relationships, and social-emotional dimensions of learning
• E – Ethical Thinking: Making principled decisions in the use of AI, with awareness of consequences and responsibilities
• R – Reflective Thinking: Synthesising past experiences with future-oriented planning and personal meaning-making

With these thinking capacities, teachers’ roles move beyond content delivery to become architects of the learning experience focused on process, purpose, and context.

Moving Forward: Human Flourishing in the Age of AI

As we look into the future, there is no doubt that AI will continue to evolve rapidly, with growing influence across all levels of education. In the next 1–2 years, we anticipate deeper integration of generative AI and adaptive learning systems, more sophisticated data-driven personalisation, and an expansion of intelligent tools. Within five years, AI is likely to become seamlessly embedded in learning platforms, classroom routines, and even assessment practices.

Yet alongside this potential, we must remain deeply conscious of AI’s limitations and risks. Technology cannot and should not replace the human character in terms of our deep human expertise, ethical judgment and discernment, as well as relational depth that define meaningful education. Across all contexts of AI adoption, I encourage reflection around five key considerations, summarised by my ABCDE framework:

• A - Accuracy and Authenticity: How do we verify the credibility and trustworthiness of AI-generated information, especially in an age of misinformation and deepfakes?
• B - Bias: All data is shaped by perspectives. Are we aware of the underlying assumptions and cultural lenses embedded in AI outputs?
• C - Constraints: AI remains limited in specialised fields requiring expert judgment. How do we acknowledge and complement these limitations with human insight?
• D - Dependence: Are we cultivating critical thinkers, or are learners becoming overly reliant on AI at the expense of their own agency and curiosity?
• E - Ethics: How do we uphold data privacy, human dignity, and responsible use—especially in systems that monitor, predict, or profile learner behaviours?

These reflections remind us that technological advancement must be matched by moral clarity and human intentionality. As Centre Director of the Singapore Centre for Character and Citizenship Education (SCCCE), my current work focuses on precisely this intersection, exploring how we can prepare students not just to be tech-savvy, but to flourish as moral and civic agents in an AI-powered world. Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) plays a vital role in this endeavour. It equips individuals with the values, virtues, and purpose needed to navigate the complexity of world with wisdom and compassion.

In an age where technology can accelerate everything, character slows us down in the right ways by inviting us to reflect, discern, and empathise. By integrating CCE with digital and AI literacy, we can prepare students not only to succeed in a technological landscape in performative ways, but also to become ethical, grounded, and socially responsible human beings within this landscape. This, ultimately, is the purpose of education in the AI era: not simply to keep pace with innovative technology, but to ensure that humanity leads the way. 

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