The Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities (LKYCIC) presents a double seminar featuring two presentations that shed light on interesting and highly pertinent topics of our times. Join us for an exciting and insightful session!

Programme

3.30 to 4.15 pm
AI x Workers: 10 Designs to Craft an Inclusive Future of Work.
Mr Poon King Wang, Director, LKYCIC and Chief Strategic Officer, SUTD
Dr Thijs Willems, Research Fellow, LKYCIC

If skills are the answer to Al’s impact on jobs, why do so many questions persist about workers’ future?

New strategies that extend beyond automation, augmentation, and even co-piloting are essential. We show why and how, through 10 designs, we can craft meaningful careers, transitions, collaborations, options, and trust in each other and Al.

4.15 to 4.30 pm
Question-and-Answer Session

4.30 to 5.15 pm
An Eye to the Future or Back to the Future? How Far Ahead Do We Think About What We Think?
Dr Harvey Neo, Professorial Research Fellow, LKYCIC and Director, MSc Urban Science Policy and Planning, SUTD
Dr Samuel Chng, Senior Research Fellow and Head, Urban Psychology Lab, LKYCIC
Dr Sarah Chan, Chan Heng Chee Research Fellow, LKYCIC 

How far ahead do we think about what we think? While some people profess to live in the moment, it is not practical nor possible to ignore the future (or past). We think about the future in diverse situations, such as sourcing for suitable health insurance or simply looking forward to celebrating one’s favourite holiday.

Our presentation shares interesting findings from our population survey on what Singaporeans think about the future, and offers behavioural insights to perennial questions such as “Why are we unable to do things which we know, and agree we should do?” and “Why do some people appear nonplussed about existential issues which will affect their lives?”

5.15 to 5.30 pm
Question-and-Answer Session

Presenters

MR POON KING WANG
Chief Strategy Officer, SUTD Director, LKYCIC, SUTD

King Wang serves on the SkillsFuture Research Advisory Panel, and the Institute of Human Resource Professional Job Redesign Expert Panel, amongst others. His team’s work is recognised in the National Al Strategy 1.0 for building a trusted environment for Al that balances citizens’ interests with corporate innovation. They also collaborated with PDPC/IMDA on Singapore’s first human-centered industry-agnostic “Guide to Job Redesign in the Age of Al“, under the guidance of the Advisory Council of the Ethical Use of Al and Data. King Wang received the Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 2021.

DR THIJS WILLEMS
Research Fellow, LKYCIC, SUTD

Dr Willems is an organisational ethnographer studying the Future of Work. He is currently engaged in research on the impact of technologies – such as Al – on work practices and technology mediated interactions in the workplace. His work critically examines the transformation of the workplace under the advent of automation, highlighting strategies for more sustainable digitalisation efforts that puts human expertise at the centre. Through rich, qualitative insights derived from organisational ethnography, Dr Willems explores how workers navigate and adapt to new roles and tasks in an Al-driven era, contributing novel perspectives to the discourse on the future of work.

DR HARVEY NEO
Professorial Research Fellow, LKYCIC, SUTD

Dr Neo’s research focuses on critical urban studies, citizen urban science and policy-making as well as nature-society interactions. At the LKYCIC, he leads the Cities Cluster Research on “The Future of Asian Cities“. Amongst other things, he is interested in how citizen-centric urban science can be practised, and sustained in tandem with “big data”, and in so doing, how urban policies can be positively influenced. The future of such citizen urban science is being studied across four Southeast Asian cities: Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Manila and Phnom Penh. Harvey is also developing a research programme on “urban sustainability” at the LKYCIC, focusing on the issues of nature, food and energy.

DR SAMUEL CHNG
Senior Research Fellow, LKYCIC, SUTD

Dr Chng is an applied social psychologist and heads the Urban Psychology Lab in the LKYCIC. His research focuses on human behaviour and decisions in cities across a range of areas including mobility, sustainability and well-being (human adaptability and resilience). His work is multidisciplinary and applied in nature, focusing on delivering practical and policy impacts.

DR SARAH CHAN
Chan Heng Chee Research Fellow, LKYCIC, SUTD

Dr Chan is an environmental psychologist who studies the interactions between people and their environments (natural, built, virtual, hybrid). Her research interests revolve around understanding the synergies and trade-offs between environmental sustainability, technological and urban development, and human well-being. Her research has explored topics including the impacts of digital and urban nature, virtual reality and behavioural change, value orientations reflected by digital selves, emotions and climate change, and landscape perceptions.

Register here: AI x Workers + Making Sense of the Future

Note: The registration is closed as the seminar is fully subscribed.

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