S1E62: Education vs. AI - Can schools balance ChatGPT and character-building?

Jan 13, 2026

36:35

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As AI reshapes work and life, schools are changing too. But before we redesign education, should we ask what it’s really for?

Synopsis: On Wednesdays, The Straits Times takes a hard look at Singapore's social issues of the day with guests.

Education is one of the few institutions almost every Singaporean passes through - and one of the most contested. From debates about declining attention spans to rising anxiety, we now wonder about the role of artificial intelligence in classrooms. Questions about standards, equity, excellence and inclusion continue to surface.

Schools are expected to prepare students not just for jobs, but for citizenship and for lives that feel meaningful. Sometimes these expectations are in tension with one another as we grapple with the AI revolution that’s underway.

In this episode, we ask a more fundamental question: What purpose does education serve in a world increasingly driven by technology and AI?

And how should our answers change when the world students are entering - shaped by AI and rapid technological change - may look radically different from the one schools were designed for?

Joining the discussion with Deputy Opinion Editor Mubin Saadat are Ms Elisha Tushara, The Straits Times education correspondent who spent a decade teaching before moving into journalism, and Dr Liu Woon Chia, Director and researcher at the National Institute of Education and co-founder of its Motivation in Educational Research Laboratory.

Highlights (click/tap above):

1:30 AI impact on education

11:55 What do PISA and OECD studies tell us?

15: 03 Friction in learning

19:35 A focus on human qualities in learning

26:35 AI as a teacher’s tool

Read ST’s Opinion section: https://str.sg/w7sH

Host: Mubin Saadat (mubin@sph.com.sg)

Produced and edited by: Hadyu Rahim

Executive producers: Ernest Luis & Lynda Hong

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Channel: https://str.sg/w7Qt