AI Influence Profile
Koh Poh Koon
Positioning
Member of Parliament. Spoke in 3 AI-related parliamentary debates (2026), most often on AI & Employment and AI Governance & Regulation.
Parliamentary AI record (3)
MOM Committee of Supply 2026 — AI, Workforce & Career Resilience
2026-03-03 · Parliament 15
The MOM Committee of Supply debate was the centrepiece for AI and workforce issues in the Budget. Minister Tan See Leng framed AI as transforming the nature of work — not only what jobs people do, but how work is organised, skills are built, and careers evolve. Key threads: (1) AI as a gamechanger that can augment or displace workers depending on how jobs are redesigned; (2) SkillsFuture participation exceeding 600,000, with 458,000+ Singaporeans using SkillsFuture credits; (3) reframing "job redesign" as "human-with-AI job redesign", using design thinking to combine AI with human judgement, empathy and creativity; (4) mid-career PMEs face the highest risk and need career health to become mainstream, preventive and personalised; (5) generative AI poses higher risk to white-collar work than to manual / dexterity-based roles. MPs' threads: Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs), forward-looking when introduced in 2016, must be sharpened to give clear direction on AI-driven business process redesign, workforce-transition timelines and credible pathways into new roles; Ms Yeo Wan Ling argued the 2026 expansion of the Non-traditional Sources Occupation List (NTS-OL) must be coupled with productivity-linked conditions — structured training of locals, skills transfer from foreign workers, and job redesign; NMP Assoc Prof Terence Ho warned of an "AI divide" and proposed free or subsidised time-limited access to premium AI tools (the US$20–30/month tier) for mature workers, with longer-term subsidies for lower-income Singaporeans; Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim cautioned that agentic AI threatens entry-level positions and called for institutionalising the GRIT programme as a national on-the-job training subsidy.
Use of AI Chatbots for Counselling and Mental Health Support by Teenagers and Young Adults
2026-02-27 · Parliament 15
MP Dr Charlene Chen asked how the government is monitoring teen use of AI chatbots for mental health counselling and how it protects vulnerable users. Senior Minister of State for Health Dr Koh Poh Koon replied that AI chatbots are now ubiquitous, making tracking impractical. He stated clearly that generative AI chatbots are not suitable substitutes for qualified mental-health providers because of risks of misinformation and inappropriate responses that could cause harm. Young people turn to them for anonymity and 24/7 availability. The government's strategy: promote legitimate alternatives (mindline 1771, mindline.sg, CHAT), and require app stores under the Code of Practice for Online Safety to implement age assurance by end-March 2026.
Headcount Retention and Technology Transfer for Citizen Workforce of Singapore-based AI Company Recently Acquired by Meta
2026-02-04 · Parliament 15
MPs asked, after Meta's acquisition of Singapore-based AI startup Manus, about the share of local employees, retention guarantees, and technology transfer safeguards. The government replied that the acquisition is a commercial agreement and it does not intervene in specific terms; firms must comply with Singapore labour law and fair hiring rules, and EDB drives skills transfer and talent development. MPs focused on whether firms benefiting from Singapore's business environment genuinely deliver value to local workers post-acquisition, and suggested setting local hiring targets for "red-card" companies and preventing the abuse of shell-company structures.