Background

Effective learning requires self-motivation, which comes from positive feedback. AI can lower the threshold for obtaining positive feedback.

Professor Peng Kaiping from Tsinghua University's Psychology Department led a team that tracked and surveyed over 300,000 primary and secondary school students in China. They found that post-pandemic youth exhibited concerning characteristics, summarised as the "four nothings" phenomenon:

1. No motivation to learn
2. No interest in the real world
3. No social skills
4. No sense of meaning in life

In short, they lack enthusiasm for life. Part of the reason behind this is a lack of positive feedback and an inability to enjoy the pleasure of creation, leading to a lack of self-motivation and understanding of why they should learn. AI can liberate their productivity, allowing young people to complete various tasks that previously only adults could do through long-term training, such as writing articles, creating images and videos, coding, and building software and hardware products. This lowers the barriers to creation, shortens the time needed for positive feedback, and makes effective learning possible.

Empathy is the foundation, imagination is the sky. AI-based technology for good has real social value.

At the same time, the educational paradigm in the AI era is undergoing a disruptive change. Compared to creating "human tools" or "cogs in a machine," there is a greater need for "dreamers" and "global-minded individuals":

1. Actively discover problems and propose ideas based on curiosity and creativity.
2. Master tools and skills, accumulate teamwork experience through Project-based Learning (PBL).
3. Use AI tools to build products and services around the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, helping young people realize their ideas in real business scenarios of non-profit organisations and social enterprises, creating social value and driving better growth.

Singapore encourages AI for good and sustainable innovation, which encourages young people to develop a global perspective.

Singapore's National AI Strategy proposes a vision of AI for the Public Good, for Singapore and the World, advocating for technology for good while leading global AI innovation. Additionally, Singapore is actively promoting sustainable development in Asia and globally through initiatives like the Philanthropy Asia Alliance and the Co-Axis sustainable innovation incubation platform. By collaborating with local Singaporean businesses and academic institutions, young people will gain a deep understanding of how AI can be applied to solve real-world problems and serve the global public good, becoming world citizens with both capability and social responsibility.