{"id":12451,"date":"2025-11-27T09:32:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T01:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/?p=12451"},"modified":"2025-12-10T16:19:28","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T08:19:28","slug":"navigating-the-age-of-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/2025\/11\/27\/navigating-the-age-of-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"Navigating the Age of AI"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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With generative AI now embedded in every aspect of industry and daily life, what should universities be preparing students for?<\/p>

At a plenary session of the NUS Innovation Forum (NIF) Jakarta, panellists weighed in on a critical question facing higher education today: \u201cWhat do you see as the most significant opportunities and challenges that AI presents to universities in Southeast Asia?\u201d<\/p>

Held on 24 October 2025 at the Pullman Jakarta Indonesia Thamrin CBD, NIF Jakarta was organised by NUS Alumni Relations<\/a> to bring alumni, thought leaders and industry experts together for in-depth discussions on emerging innovation trends. The event marked the seventh NIF since the series was launched in 2024<\/a>\u00a0and the first held in Indonesia, underscoring the University\u2019s deepening engagement with its global alumni.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u201cAs AI transforms how knowledge is accessed and applied, universities must confront their own relevance and answer existential questions about the form, value and purpose of university education.\u201d <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Professor Tan Eng Chye<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
NUS President<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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UNIVERSITIES IN THE AGE OF AI<\/strong><\/p>

The Rectors\u2019 Panel \u2014 featuring Professor Hamdi Muluk from Universitas Indonesia, Dr Danang Sri Hadmoko of Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Professor Lavi Rizki Zuhal of Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) and NUS President Professor Tan Eng Chye (Science \u201985) \u2014 tackled the harder, underlying issue: what is the purpose of a university when machines can already perform so many tasks that academics once thought are exclusive to humans? Moderated by Professor Simon Chesterman, NUS Vice Provost (Educational Innovation) and Dean of\u00a0NUS College<\/a>, the discussion went beyond technological disruption to examine the future of learning itself.<\/p>

Early in the discussion, Prof Tan spoke candidly about the \u201ctremendous opportunities and risks\u201d presented by AI. To illustrate the speed and scale of change, he pointed to DeepMind\u2019s breakthrough in protein folding, which modelled more than 200 million proteins in a single sweep \u2014 a feat that would otherwise have required \u201cmore than a billion PhD-years\u201d.<\/p>

Such leaps, he noted, show just how dramatically AI can supercharge scientific discovery. They also reveal how quickly universities must adapt. At NUS alone, 134 faculty members were hired over the past two years; 27 are AI specialists, and another 53 incorporate AI into their research. \u201cIt shows how pervasive AI has become, transforming all disciplines\u201d he said.<\/p>

Yet he also warned of a quieter academic danger: students using AI to avoid thinking rather than deepening their cognitive skills. He highlighted four risks \u2014 cognitive offloading, never-skilling, mis-skilling and de-skilling \u2014 that universities must actively guard against. \u201cLearning\u00a0must remain effortful,\u201d he said. \u201cAI cannot replace the process of thinking.\u201d<\/p>

From the Indonesian institutions came a shared recognition that AI is not just a technological development but a philosophical shift. Prof Zuhal believes that current trends demand a rethink of curriculum design. ITB has already overhauled its programmes with the aim of preparing students to work alongside intelligent systems. \u201cWe cannot keep teaching the way we were taught,\u201d he said. Many lecturers, he acknowledged, still resist AI because \u201cthey think their own brains still function\u201d. But he added that that doesn\u2019t take away a fundamental truth: that educators need to be skilled in AI, simply because students are.<\/p>

Dr Hadmoko emphasised the need for applied, cross-disciplinary research\u2014particularly at the intersection of human behaviour and technology. UGM is increasingly pairing computer scientists with experts from diverse domains such as psychology, engineering, medicine, pharmacy, and the social sciences. This approach ensures that AI tools are not only technically robust, applicable across sectors, and responsive to real stakeholder needs, but also socially grounded. He also highlighted an important structural reality: AI research is inherently expensive. Cloud-computing costs alone can exceed the annual operating budgets of some faculties, and very few universities in the region can independently sustain large-scale modelling efforts. Consequently, multi-stakeholder collaboration is no longer optional but essential. Dr Hadmoko stressed that shared supercomputing infrastructure, joint research clusters, and industry-supported innovation centres are becoming critical pillars for advancing AI research and ensuring equitable access to computational power.<\/p>

Prof Muluk reminded the room that AI will not only mirror humanity\u2019s strengths, but also its vulnerabilities. He cited real cases of young people seeking emotional support from AI systems \u2014sometimes with tragic consequences when models hallucinate, misjudge intent or offer unsafe advice. His message was clear: offline life still matters, as does physical interaction. Universities, he stressed, must invest as seriously in human resilience as they do in digital infrastructure. Community-building, peer-support systems, service learning and mental-health programmes are not peripheral \u2014 they are essential safeguards in an era where digital companionship can feel deceptively comforting. \u201cWe must equip students with wisdom,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd wisdom is not something AI can provide.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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During the Innovators\u2019 Panel titled \u2018Ask Me Anything: Building Impactful Start-ups in an Uncertain World in the Age of AI\u2019, entrepreneurs shared insights on building resilient companies amid rapid technological change.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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THE BUSINESS OF INNOVATION<\/strong><\/p>

Later in the Forum, discussions widened beyond universities to the broader startup and corporate ecosystem. A second session \u2013 themed \u2018Ask Me Anything: Building Impactful Start-ups in an Uncertain World in the Age of AI\u2019 \u2013 featured start-up founders in biotech, media tech and the industrial Internet of Things, offering a candid look at what it takes to build resilient companies in an age of rapid technological change.<\/p>

Speakers Mr Adi Reza Nugroho of MYCL, Mr David Setiawan Suwarto (Business<\/a>\u00a0\u201909) of SCTV and MOJI, Mr Pang Xue Kai (Engineering<\/a>\u00a0\u201915) of ForU AI, and moderator Mr Danial Talib of\u00a0PIER71<\/a>\u2122, shared practical insights on navigating uncertainty, earning user trust, and using AI to accelerate \u2014 not replace \u2014 human creativity and problem-solving.<\/p>

NUS Enterprise<\/a>\u00a0also highlighted its expanding regional presence through its\u00a0BLOCK71<\/a>\u00a0network, now spanning 11 cities \u2014 including Jakarta, Bandung and Yogyakarta \u2014 and connecting founders to mentors, investors and international markets.<\/p>

Taken together, the conversations at NIF Jakarta reflected a region that is not simply adapting to technological change but actively shaping it. It built on earlier stops in Manila, San Francisco, Suzhou, Beijing, Shanghai and Tokyo, each shaped around the question of how innovation can drive economic and social progress across regions.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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This article was first published on NUS News<\/a>.\u00a0<\/h6>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the Jakarta stop of the NUS Innovation Forum, regional university leaders and industry practitioners gathered to confront the pressing questions of today, particularly on the rapid pace of innovation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":12453,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leadership","category-news-events"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12451"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12878,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12451\/revisions\/12878"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}