Is AI actually taking on my job?
A couple of years in the past, I by no means thought robots would come for the artistic business. However right here I’m, a author who constructed my profession by way of phrases, now staring down the fact that synthetic intelligence (AI) can churn out articles in seconds — and totally free.
Inside a couple of months of ChatGPT’s launch, generative AI grew to become much more superior, now able to churning out pictures, movies and even music. My greatest good friend, who drew the long-lasting Price range Babe graphic that you just guys have seen on this weblog for the final decade, spent shut to twenty years honing her creative illustration expertise. However at the moment, Midjourney, DALL-E and Leonardo AI at the moment are capable of create and replicate graphics in virtually any artist’s fashion. A few of you may need even tried it out lately, while you generated your personal Studio Ghibli-styled pictures on ChatGPT recently.
Supply: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8b2wnUi1UU
The know-how has superior past simply nonetheless textual content or pictures. Instruments like HeyGen and Synthesia now permits you to create movies with out even filming them your self, and have your avatar communicate in over 100+ overseas languages to succeed in a wider viewers.
However worrying about AI taking on our jobs won’t assist us to cease the waves of change.
As an alternative, we will learn to surf and trip these waves to welcome the longer term.
Right here’s what I’m doing to maintain myself related, and what you are able to do, too.
Embracing AI could make us higher at our work
Many staff who’re unable to replace their expertise as wanted find yourself going through wage stagnation, whereas employers concurrently complain that not sufficient staff possess the required expertise.
So in at the moment’s context, which means:
- embracing AI,
- studying work with AI instruments, and
- continuously upgrading our expertise to stay related.
That’s the reason amidst my busy schedule, I’ve taken time to study – and follow – utilizing AI instruments to write down and generate my content material quicker. Due to ChatGPT, I not undergo from “writers’ block”. Canva AI has helped me to create visible graphics that I in any other case couldn’t conjure up on my own.
Determining use these new instruments felt difficult at first, but it surely has gotten simpler over time. Fortunately, Singapore’s Price range 2025 has launched a number of initiatives to assist our studying.
Lifelong Studying is extra important than ever earlier than
The Authorities’s current Budgets rolled out important enhancements to the SkillsFuture initiative. Specifically, the SkillsFuture Degree-Up Programme (SFLP) for Singaporeans aged 40 years and above gives:
- A SkillsFuture Credit score (Mid-Profession) High-Up, which gives a further $4,000 credit score to offset course charges for over 7,000 chosen programs geared toward enhancing employability.
- SkillsFuture Mid-Profession Coaching Allowance for Full-Time Programs: Eligible people can now apply for a month-to-month allowance of as much as $3,000 when endeavor chosen full-time programs.
- SkillsFuture Mid-Profession Coaching Allowance for Half-Time Programs: As introduced at Price range 2025, beginning early 2026, eligible people endeavor chosen part-time programs can obtain a set allowance of $300 monthly to assist defray studying bills.
- Eligible people can obtain a most of 24 months of coaching allowance below the SkillsFuture Mid-Profession Coaching Allowance, whether or not they pursue full-time or part-time coaching.
As an illustration, maybe you’re employed in finance and also you’re attempting to study AI to use to your work. Utilizing your SkillsFuture Credit score for a course just like the one under might considerably scale back your value of research:
Or maybe you’re attempting to pivot to the healthcare business (which my sister did), in an effort to serve and assist maintain the rising ageing inhabitants in Singapore – an important side of care that requires a human contact and understanding past the capabilities of AI.
There are numerous programs accessible so that you can use your SkillsFuture Credit score on, so it’s possible you’ll browse the web site to seek out what fits you greatest.
Observe: When you have been between the ages of 25 and 39 years previous in 2020, you’d have acquired $1,000 SkillsFuture Credit score in whole, of which $500 will expire on 31 December 2025. I used mine in 2023 to check for a licence associated to my business which I’ve all the time needed, and the SkillsFuture Credit score got here in helpful because it decreased the fee for me.
If you flip 40, you’ll qualify for a further $4,000 SkillsFuture Credit score (Mid-Profession) top-up to additional assist your upskilling wants.
So long as you place your self strategically to choose up the brand new in-demand expertise that employers search, value doesn’t must be a limiting issue.
There’ll all the time be methods to faucet on such authorities schemes to assist us subsidise or finance our studying charges.
Workforce Transformation is crucial, too
To stay aggressive, employers may even must adapt and rework their workforce, and undertake AI applied sciences to make their enterprise extra environment friendly.
To assist companies regulate, a number of initiatives have been introduced:
- A brand new SkillsFuture Workforce Improvement Grant, which streamlines present workforce transformation schemes and gives greater funding assist of as much as 70% for job redesign actions.
- A redesigned SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit score: to assist employers defray the out-of-pocket prices for workforce transformation upfront as a substitute of getting to spend first and look forward to reimbursement. All corporations with at the least 3 resident staff will get a recent $10,000 on this redesigned credit score from the second half of 2026.
- $200 million for NTUC’s Firm Coaching Committee grant: the grant may even be expanded to assist employer-led coaching that results in formal {qualifications} or certifications.
In embracing AI, one of many initiatives my employer applied was to introduce automated AI note-taking to cut back the necessity for us to write down post-meeting minutes. Concurrently, it enabled those that missed the precise conferences to catch up in a jiffy!
As an illustration, should you’re in a enterprise dealing with items, maybe you’ll wish to implement automation know-how in order that much less time is spent manually monitoring stock to deal with serving clients higher.
Take Actionable Steps to Future-Proof Our Profession
I really imagine that once we stand within the face of challenges, our outlook could make a marked distinction to our psychological well being and decide how we adapt.
We will both fret over how AI is “stealing our jobs”, or deal with changing into the employee who is aware of use AI instruments for higher output than what our colleagues and friends can do.
Listed here are some actionable steps you’ll be able to contemplate taking:
- Assess your present expertise gaps: Establish areas the place AI might influence your function and business, learn up on the newest instruments and watch tutorial movies of use them.
- Discover related programs: With SkillsFuture Credit score given to all Singaporeans aged 25 and above, you’ll be able to enrol in programs that align with rising business traits and calls for. Contemplate making use of for the month-to-month coaching allowances to defray your bills additional.
- Combine AI to finish your present duties: One of the simplest ways to grasp a talent is thru follow. Strive leveraging free AI instruments for a begin. It might take you just a little longer at first, however with sufficient follow, you’ll ultimately discover that AI can prevent time and improve the depth of your experience.
As an alternative of attempting to stay to our previously-established methods of labor and lamenting how “the nice previous days are gone”, I want to channel my consideration to in search of out alternatives within the new paradigm of labor.
What’s extra, even DBS has introduced that it expects to create 1,000 new AI-related jobs. This shift could possibly be a possibility for the employee who’s keen to choose up new AI instruments and apply for these new roles. The wage calls for for these roles are more likely to be greater as effectively.
Conclusion: Adapt and Thrive
Whereas AI presents challenges, it additionally gives alternatives for development and revolutionary pondering. AI instruments have already helped to hurry up a few of our work processes. Those that learn to leverage these instruments will develop into extra aggressive sooner or later, so you actually don’t need to be falling behind with the occasions.
We can’t cease the waves of technological modifications from disrupting our industries, however we will select to proactively upskill ourselves in order that we’re outfitted to make use of these new instruments – to provide even higher work than earlier than.
The selection is as much as us.
Disclosure: This text is dropped at you in partnership with the Ministry of Finance.
