From the classroom to the workplace: Learning in the age of AI

AI: The transformative agent  

Artificial Intelligence, or AI,  is transforming how we live, learn and work at an unprecedented pace and scale. Its capabilities, including machine learning and natural language processing, are revolutionizing industries from manufacturing to healthcare. 

Education is no exception. The traditional university model – rooted in classroom learning, fixed curricula and knowledge transmission that leads to a degree – is no longer adequate for an increasingly complex and volatile global landscape. As AI continues to reshape economies and industries, technical expertise, while essential, will not be enough for one to thrive in the digital era. Enduring skills for the future are inherently human: critical thinking, collaboration, ethical decision-making and adaptability.  

At the National University of Singapore (NUS), the rise of AI presents a responsibility to prepare our students for an AI-pervasive future. We focus on when and how AI is integrated into education, from curriculum design to teaching methods. AI’s impact extends across our entire educational ecosystem. 

A strong foundation for an AI world  

The NUS education is broad-based, flexible, and interdisciplinary, with an emphasis on real-world problem-solving. It begins with the general education component that cultivates critical thinking, cultural awareness, and communication skills. Drawing from multiple disciplines fosters agility, creativity and the ability to tackle complex challenges. 

This interdisciplinary mindset is carried forward through a common curriculum found across most colleges, faculties, and schools. While majors have been streamlined to make space for broader academic exposure, students now engage more deeply with both established disciplines and emerging fields to gain the versatility needed for a lifelong learning journey. 

AI literacy builds on this strong foundation. As part of general education, the data and digital literacy pillars help undergraduates acquire essential skills in data fluency and computational thinking. Courses now include core AI elements, and basic AI is part of the common curriculum. Colleges and faculties are integrating AI into major requirements, showing its relevance across fields. 

NUS aims for more than half its courses to incorporate AI or digital technologies. Already, over 175 AI-related courses are offered, including more than 70 outside the School of Computing. 

New programs and specialisations in robotics, business analytics, and digital infrastructure are also emerging in tandem with industry transformation. 

For those curious about the intersection of technology and humanity, Acacia College offers a two-year residential program themed Artificial and Human Intelligences. From seminars on ‘AI versus humans’ to cross-disciplinary explorations of AI’s societal impact, students are invited to reflect on the deeper questions shaping our AI-enabled future. The college also acts as a sandbox for interdisciplinary courses involving AI.  

Integrating AI into pedagogy and the learning experience 

Reimagining education goes beyond curriculum design. At NUS, AI is used to create engaging, personalized learning experiences and improve outcomes. 

Underlying this is the core principle that education remains a relational and human experience: Human educators collaborate with AI systems to augment their teaching and amplify the learning experience but are not substituted by it.  

To guide this transformation, NUS has adopted a two-pillar framework: Use AI and X+AI. The first focuses on how educators can harness AI to enhance teaching and learning – transforming how knowledge is delivered, personalized, and assessed. The second explores how AI is incorporated within disciplinary content, where “X” might be psychology, chemistry, law, or any field of study. 

Supporting educators to lead this change is a priority. The NUS Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology provides workshops and consultations on AI in education, while the AI Centre for Educational Technologies collaborates with faculty to develop AI-powered teaching tools. 

One such tool is ScholAIstic, a generative AI platform that lets students in law, nursing and social work practice complex skills through realistic simulations and real-time feedback. It helps students exercise empathy, hone active listening skills, and learn to make decisions under pressure. 

Tools like this signal the wave of transformation. As AI begins to take on more instructional and administrative tasks, educators are freed to focus on what truly matters: nurturing critical inquiry, guiding ethical dialogue, and mentoring students to navigate ambiguity and complexity. 

Anchoring these efforts is the University-wide AI Community-of-Practice for Teaching & Learning. It seeks to bring together colleges, faculties and schools to exchange ideas, share resources, promote best practices, and co-develop the future of AI in education in a responsible and ethical manner.  

From policies on AI use in classrooms to new tools like AI-assisted grading and a “Human + AI Tutoring” platform developed with industry, NUS is creating an environment where AI strengthens – not replaces – the human touch in teaching. 

Connecting learning to work 

AI is also influencing what employers expect from new graduates. With entry-level jobs in some professions starting to decline, the implication is stark: universities must prepare students not just for first jobs, but for higher-order roles that demand system-level thinking, design capabilities, and a readiness to lead human-AI collaboration from day one. 

This is no small leap. To meet this need, academic programs will need to embed applied learning experiences that develop not only technical fluency, but also critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and contextual awareness. Internships should be structured and aligned with students’ career goals, with industry partnerships to build meaningful skills. 

The challenge of upskilling and reskilling midcareer professionals has also been intensified with the surge of AI. To become a data-driven organization, NUS is equipping staff with future-ready skills through the Data Literacy Program (DLP) and Artificial Intelligence Competency Program (AICP).  

Aligned with Singapore’s Industry Transformation Map, this positions the University as both a living lab and testbed for continuing education and training innovation.  

The DLP offers 10 stackable courses that lead to a graduate diploma. Diploma holders can then progress towards a Master’s degree offered by NUS, which includes completing a workplace capstone project and on-the-job training where they apply their skills to solve a well-defined workplace problem. 

NUS recognises the importance of acknowledging and rewarding administrative staff who pursue continuous education and training. Secondary job titles of Associate Data Scientist and Data Scientist as well as a monthly skills allowance will be conferred on staff who complete their diploma and master’s respectively.   

A similar credentialing pathway is underway for AICP, which aims to bolster the AI fluency of staff – enabling them to identify, apply, and lead AI initiatives in their work environments. 

Complementing these efforts are regular briefings and Learning IT with bITbIT sessions conducted by NUS Information Technology’s Digital Enablement team, providing just-in-time, bite-sized learning on emerging AI tools and applications. A new generative AI program is also in the works to drive innovation and efficiency across the university.  

The result: a whole-of-university approach to continuous learning and digital empowerment. 

Reimagining learning across the lifespan 

As automation and digitalization reshape industries and skills become obsolete faster, graduates can expect nonlinear paths in their career lifecycle marked by frequent role changes and shifts across industries. This new reality requires a mindset shift – from mastering a domain to mastering learning itself.  

Our NUS Lifelong Learners program embodies this philosophy. Its comprehensive suite of courses and programs caters to various job levels and covers key growth areas of Industry as well as the green, digital, and care economies – providing learners a pathway to reinvent themselves by adapting and staying relevant.  

There is also a growing emphasis on interdisciplinarity, project-based experiences, and real-world problem-solving. An example is our flagship Master’s program in Artificial Intelligence and Innovation that brings together students from diverse backgrounds – engineering, science, business, the arts – and equips them with AI knowledge as well as the entrepreneurial and design thinking skills needed to ideate solutions that are human-centered and industry-relevant.  

All these speak to a deeper shift: in a world shaped by AI, learning is continuous, contextual, and woven into our daily work and life. 

The ethics of AI  

As AI becomes more embedded in our institutions, the challenge is how we will use it and to what end.  

To address this, NUS established the NUS AI Institute, a cross-disciplinary research hub focused on the technical, societal, and ethical dimensions of AI. The institute facilitates collaboration between computer scientists, legal scholars, ethicists, and industry leaders to ensure that AI is developed and deployed in ways that align with human values and public good. 

In parallel, it is critical to foster AI literacy across the university – not only in computing departments, but in law, public policy, the humanities, and the arts. Our view is clear: every graduate – not just AI practitioners – must understand AI well enough to engage with it confidently, critically and responsibly. 

Rethinking readiness 

The journey from classroom to workplace is no longer linear. Careers today are shaped by transitions, pivots, and technological leaps, and learning is a lifelong cycle of adapting, unlearning, and reimagining.  

The question isn’t if our students will face disruption – but how prepared are they to move through it with confidence and resilience. Education must prepare them not just for jobs, but for change itself. That means rethinking the architecture of learning – in classrooms, living environments and beyond – by incorporating more interdisciplinary, experiential and co-curricular programs, along with an increased focus on lifelong learning.  

In the era of AI, the lines between learning and working continue to blur. But our mission stays clear: to educate, inspire and transform minds who will shape the future.