Motion: Fadli Fawzi on artificial intelligence transition with no jobless growth
Even as AI threatens to replace many existing job roles, some remain difficult to automate, including skilled trades which have been undervalued in Singapore both economically and socially. These jobs include plumbers, electricians and phlebotomists. Making the point in parliament on Wednesday (May 6), MP Fadli Fawzi said Singapore must raise wages and improve career pathways in blue-collar sectors that are currently less attractive but also less vulnerable to AI displacement. He also warned that if AI is not managed properly, it could represent not just technological disruption but a recalibration of power between labour and capital. If unchecked, a form of “digital serfdom” could also emerge where workers are bound by algorithms, he said. This is already happening with platform workers and could affect cognitive and white-collar jobs as AI advances.
Even as AI threatens to replace many existing job roles, some remain difficult to automate, including skilled trades which have been undervalued in Singapore both economically and socially. These jobs include plumbers, electricians and phlebotomists. Making the point in parliament on Wednesday (May 6), MP Fadli Fawzi said Singapore must raise wages and improve career pathways in blue-collar sectors that are currently less attractive but also less vulnerable to AI displacement. He also warned that if AI is not managed properly, it could represent not just technological disruption but a recalibration of power between labour and capital. If unchecked, a form of “digital serfdom” could also emerge where workers are bound by algorithms, he said. This is already happening with platform workers and could affect cognitive and white-collar jobs as AI advances.
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