Transcript of Acting Minister for Manpower And Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Digital Development and Information Jasmin Lau's Address at AI Tech Festival

We have all heard a lot about AI. AI conferences, courses, and new tools are everywhere.

I think it is fair to say that some of us are feeling a little fatigued. Perhaps some of you are also thinking: “I have a job to do. What does all this AI hype mean for me?”

For most public officers, AI is not our job. We still have policies to develop, cases to handle, services to deliver, people to manage and Singaporeans to serve.

So, when we set up the Institute of Digital Government, or IDG, with CSC, we started with a simple question: How do we help every public officer use technology in a way that is genuinely useful to their work?

The work, purpose and mission still come first, and technology is the tool. Our aim is not to teach digital, data and AI for their own sake. It is to help officers do their jobs better and Government to deliver better outcomes for our citizens.

To do this, we decided to start with leaders. The leaders have to be role models before we can help every officer learn through real work, support those who are ready to go further, and spread what works.

We deliberately started with our Public Service leaders.

Nearly 150 Permanent Secretaries, Deputy Secretaries and heads of agencies started building their own digital capabilities two years ago. More recently, they rolled up their sleeves and tried building with AI themselves, from developing morning briefs to creating personal agents.

Because leaders shape the conditions in which the rest of us work.

By trying these digital tools themselves, leaders can better understand what is useful, what the frustrations and risks are, ask better questions, and give their teams the confidence and space to experiment.