F ZINE People Cam: AI Edition
The AI boom has been a major talking point in Singapore lately, and Gen Z — a generation of digital natives — have plenty of perspectives about it. Here’s what they have to say.
The AI boom has been a hot topic in Singapore recently. From its adoption in various industries (56% of companies are moving towards AI adoption), to debates on the usage of AI in creative fields, it seems that this new tech tool has drawn polarising opinions. Nonetheless, as AI starts to improve and develop, this new tech tool is here to stay.
So, what does Gen Z — a generation that will be growing up with this new technological development — think of it? From using AI in school, to the ethics of AI art, and whether overusing it would be a dealbreaker in a relationship, here’s what Gen Z in Singapore have to say about AI.
Name: Goes by YY
Age: 20
Occupation: Creative direction student at Lasalle College of The Arts
I use AI for… “School work. It helps me summarise what I need to understand for class lectures. For my personal projects, I ask for recommendations for the best supplies for, for example, my graffiti or fashion.”
On whether Al has made her life better or worse: “I think it kind of improved a lot for me. Usually, I would ask my friends for advice. However, I would say that everyone’s experiences are different, so it kind of made my process of understanding the world a little bit longer. But if I ask Gemini or AI in general, it gives me a more straightforward answer.”
In your opinion, how should people be using AI? “I want to encourage people to use it more resourcefully and wisely, and not give it information to improve their services. I’m just a little bit afraid that they will use that to take over the human race. But in general, it’s always good to have insightful stuff to learn from. And getting an answer from not-really-a-human is kind of cool. If you are too shy to ask a friend, you can always ask AI, because AI doesn’t judge. I also think AI is very convenient.”
Name: Rachel Koh
Age: 19
Occupation: Fine arts student at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA)
I use AI for… “School work, to help with my ideation and things like that.”
On whether Al has made her life better or worse: “I think it’s a bit of both. I feel like my attention span is really short now, and I can’t really think of good ideas without AI. But I think my life is better because AI is more efficient. I can finish my [school] work quicker.”
Can you live without AI? “Honestly, no. You know when you use Google and the AI function immediately generates something for you? I use that quite a lot.”
Name: Olivia Fones
Age: 25
Occupation: Director of an art studio
Do you use AI? “Not at all. I don’t think I’ve ever generated like an image or a sentence, except for one time in school when AI first came out, and then everyone was using it for their dissertations. I put in my question, and they couldn’t answer it, so that was the end of it for me.”
On whether Al has made her life better or worse: “I think the average Singaporean tends to use it a lot. Just last week, somebody came down to our studio because they thought that we were another art studio. They asked ChatGPT for their address but they tend to give our address because we run Google ads, so people keep coming down to the wrong studio.
If you ask AI for things that have a definitive answer, they tend to give you the wrong answer in my experience. So even if people tend to use it a lot, I feel like nobody really benefits from it. Okay, that’s quite a strong statement to make – I’m clearly vehemently against it.”
I would never trust AI to… “Make art. As an art studio, that’s just something that we can do ourselves. We have all our faculties in check. We’re able to make this stuff ourselves – the ideas, the writing, the fabrication, everything, we can do. That’s what art is about. It’s about human touch and human mind.”
Name: Goes by Rae
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
On whether Al has made her life better or worse: “I feel like AI has made my life easier, but not better. It makes information more accessible, but it’s not anything that you can’t do on your own, it would just take more time. So people get really lazy.”
The most unhinged thing she used AI for: “I used Mei Tu (a photo editing app) to remove other people’s hands from my photos.”
I would never trust AI with… “Art. I will never trust AI art or generative AI art because there’s no real person behind the canvas, there’s no value in it.”
Is it a red flag if someone uses AI for everything? “Yes, I cannot stand it. I’m sorry.”
Name: Zheshi Afandi
Age: 24
Occupation: Freelance artist
Do you use AI? “I have for my dissertation.”
On whether Al has made her life better or worse: “I guess it’s helpful, because when I used it for my dissertation, it helped with my research – which I rushed. I couldn’t have read everything by myself.”
Is it a red flag if someone uses AI for everything? “It’s a red flag. Why can’t you use your brain?”
Name: Clive Ng
Age: 25
Occupation: Part-time skate coach
I use AI for… “Fun. I don’t really use AI for serious stuff. I ask AI a lot of fantasy questions. For my music, I like to keep it organic. I like to do it on my own. I don’t really want to ask for any help from AI, because I feel like art should be done 100% by humans.”
What kinds of questions do you ask AI? “Super, super, stupid questions. Sometimes about relationships, sometimes just straight-up dumb questions like, “What should I do today?” I mean, to ask AI what to do with your life… It’s quite dystopian.”
Is it a red flag if someone uses AI for everything? “I feel like if a person uses AI to do everything in the relationship just to please their spouse, they sort of become a little bit not human because their organic human side is gone. We are humans, we are full of flaws. We might be walking red flags, but that’s what makes us human.”
Name: Annabel Muench
Age: 16
Occupation: Secondary four student
Do you use AI? “I try my best to avoid it at all costs. But right now, there’s a lot of discussion about portfolios since I’m graduating (from secondary school), and teachers have been telling us to put our likes and interests into AI and ask it which courses would best suit us based on our interests. That’s mainly what I’ve had to do recently.”
I would never trust AI with… “I don’t like AI art. I feel like it’s so much better when it’s done by humans, and there’s so much more depth to it and meaning as well.”
Can you live without AI? “Definitely. One thousand, million per cent. How do you think the world has survived for the past 1000 years?”
Name: Celest Chia
Age: 20
Occupation: Illustration design and animation student at NAFA
I use AI for… “My school work. My teachers for my courses also encourage it for ideation, but I wouldn’t use it for anything more than that.”
The most unhinged thing she’s used AI for: “When I’m really bored in class, I use it to make a random story. I give it random words and ask it to make a story, and then I’ll just push it further. Like, “What if you make this person taller, or make this person shorter?” But only when I’m really bored.”
I would never trust AI to… “Create images or make art...especially since I’m taking an art course.”
Is it a red flag if someone uses AI for everything? “Yes, because does the person even have an original thought anymore?”
Name: Alicia Zhou
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
On whether Al has made her life better or worse: “I think AI has helped my life a lot, especially as a student [who has] 1,000 PowerPoint slides to go through. But I can feel that my critical thinking has really been dulled. For example, when I was in secondary school, I was able to think very fast, and the ideas I thought of were quite well developed. But now, I’ve gotten lazier. The moment I get a question, I just put it through ChatGPT and see what it does. Then I’ll just add on to it, which I feel is not really good, because it makes all my answers feel more normal and not very creative.”
The most unhinged thing she’s seen AI be used for: “My brother used AI to create eye contact. When he was recording a video, he wasn’t looking at the camera, so he used AI to make it look like he was facing the camera the entire time. It was a bit uncanny, but it worked.”
Can you live without Al? “Yes. While it does make life easier, I feel that people are better off without it. I feel everyone is becoming a bit dumber, and I don’t think that’s a good thing.”
Is it a red flag if someone uses AI for everything? “I feel like you gotta be able to think on your own two feet. I feel it’s very important to have your own opinions about things, and being able to think is very important.”
Name: Goes by Nathan
Age: 16
Occupation: Secondary four student
On whether Al has made her life better or worse: “I feel like it has made my life worse because I’m kind of scared for my future now. I intend to do something related to art in the future, but because of AI, I’m kind of scared that it’s not going to be possible anymore.”
To what extent do you think AI should be allowed into creative spaces? “It can maybe help enhance ideas, but I feel like it shouldn’t do the work. It can help you with your ideas and stuff, but that’s the most of it. For the rest – like, the composition and how you draw it – everything else should be coming from you.”
Is it a red flag if someone uses AI for everything? “Yes, because they don’t have any thoughts of their own, and they need AI to assist them with everything.”