SINGAPORE: Companies that repeatedly tap public grants to grow through artificial intelligence while treating workers unfairly could face government intervention, said Minister of State for Digital Development and Information Jasmin Lau, as Singapore pushes ahead with plans to become a global AI hub. She added that the government is watching to ensure gains from AI adoption are shared with workers, especially when taxpayer funds are involved. “When we spend public resources to help companies grow, then we want to have a bit more control over what the companies do,” said Ms Lau, who co-chairs the Economic Strategy Review (ESR) committee on technology and innovation. “What we are looking for are patterns - if a company is constantly applying for and given grants, but workers are being removed without fair treatment. Then, when we start to see these patterns, we must act, because these are public funds that we are stewards of.” Ms Lau was speaking to CNA on the back of the release of the five ESR committees’ recommendations earlier this month on how Singapore can steer its economy forward. This followed nine months of consultations involving more than 7,700 stakeholders, including businesses, unions and workers. The ESR’s 32 recommendations aim to secure long-term economic growth for Singapore and create good jobs amid rapid technological disruption. It recommended that Singapore position itself as a “location of choice” where people can collaborate to develop innovative AI solutions, while ensuring workers are equipped with AI literacy and supported through career transitions. Ms Lau acknowledged that companies will continue making commercial decisions, including cost-cutting measures, but warned against overly short-term thinking. “The short-term desire to cut costs may end up affecting them later on when their company needs to think about further growth,” she noted. “Perhaps they're looking now for staff who understand the business (and) domain, understand the business culture. They will not have such people anymore as their company tries to scale.”   FOCUS ON CAPABILITIES As AI reshapes industries and automates routine tasks, Ms Lau said young Singaporeans should focus less on chasing supposedly stable professions and more on developing capabilities that technology cannot easily replace. “At this point, nobody can tell fully which jobs would be around in the next five, 10 years, but we are still very clear what capabilities are still needed in five to 10 years,” she said. Among the enduring skills she highlighted were communication, judgement, taste and discernment, which she said are “unlikely to be replaced by technology”. Ms Lau added that employers are increasingly expecting graduates to possess basic AI literacy. “I don't think all employers are expecting graduates to be able to design and build their own agents, but I think many employers would hope that graduates, at least, can do writing, research, provide and present well-written reports with the help of AI,” she pointed out. The ESR has called for a national AI workforce strategy focused on AI literacy, lifelong learning and helping workers move into growth sectors. HOW WILL YOUNGER WORKERS FARE? Addressing concerns that AI could eliminate junior level “learning ground” tasks, Ms Lau argued that younger workers do not necessarily need to go through the same repetitive processes as previous generations to build expertise. Instead, she said cutting down on the "grunt work" could help young workers gain experience in making judgement calls earlier in their careers.    That, in turn, could create an ecosystem of "a lot more experienced professionals" and valuable employees.  Ms Lau also stressed that workers should feel fairly rewarded when companies benefit from AI-driven productivity gains. People walk on the street during lunch break at Raffles Place in Singapore on Jan 22, 2025. (File photo: AFP/Roslan Rahman) “Work should feel more purposeful than in the past. Work should pay fair wages - and when I say fair, they must be able to look at the company,” she pointed out. “If the company is growing very strongly, making significant profits, the workers must feel that they have some share of it.” In the future, graduates will find it easier to move across domains and “talk about their job experiences in a much more tangible and complex way”, Ms Lau said. “Today, if a young new graduate goes home, talks to his parents about what they do at work - they may feel that I'm only doing this small part … but in the future, when they talk about their roles, it will be fuller,” she added.   https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/economic-strategy-review-jasmin-lau-ai-workers-young-singaporeans-6144256

I'm sure it's fine, what could possibly go wrong...

Dog in US accidentally fires shotgun from inside a truck, hits woman in the arm On Saturday (23 May), a dog inside a truck parked at a convenience store in the United States accidentally fired a shotgun. Though a pellet hit her arm, her injury was not life-threatening, and she received treatment at the hospital for her injuries. Authorities initially got reports of a BB gun At 12.07pm, police in Nebraska received reports of a person shot by a BB gun at a convenience store. However, on their way to investigate, they were told that the shot was actually from a shotgun. After arriving at the convenience store, they discovered a truck with a damaged passenger-side door that was consistent with a shotgun blast. Police said the shotgun fired when the dog, which the owner had left in the vehicle, hopped from one side to the other. In doing so, the dog accidentally triggered the shotgun, which had a live shell in the chamber. Source: andresr on Canva. Images are for illustrative purposes only Woman hit by shotgun sent to hospital While this was happening, a woman had been waiting at a nearby traffic light. At the stop, she had her arm outside of the car, with the windows rolled down. One of the pellets from the shotgun ended up hitting her in the arm.   Her injury was reportedly not life-threatening. One of her family members transported her to Regional West Medical Center to get her wounds tended. Police are currently investigating the incident. They also warned the public that it is illegal to travel with a loaded shotgun in their vehicle.   https://mustsharenews.com/dog-shotgun-truck-store/   Guns don't kill people, peop.. wait what?

the dad will kena mock

keyword: Incident happen 16 Jan25, but arrested only on 10 Jun25