How A Singapore Tutor Used AI To Teach Maths, Improve Productivity | Money Mind

[music] Ela Chong's income depends on staying relevant to students and parents. A mid-career private tutor, she's [music] built her reputation the traditional way. Then, Generative AI began producing structured explanations [music] and practice questions in seconds. I think that was actually a wakeup call for me. Okay. So, I realized the re wasn't AI replacing teachers. Um but teachers who didn't adapt quickly become less relevant. >> Across industries, [music] AI fluency is increasingly becoming part of the baseline and not just a bonus skill. >> That's why this year's budget places AI at the center of Singapore's [music] growth strategy. >> Our advantage does not lie in building the largest frontier models. It lies in deploying AI effectively, responsibly, and at speed. But to fully realize AI's potential, we must go beyond individual pilots and isolated experiments. We must organize at a national level and move with speed and scale. >> To do that, AI missions will be launched across these four key economic sectors. and a new national AI council chaired by the prime minister will steer the strategy. But this isn't just about industry transformation. >> Beyond these specific sectors, every Singaporean can take the initiative to learn and pick up AI related skills. >> We are open economy and if we want to be leader in key growth sector, we really need to embrace AI. We have limited resources. Uh we have very ambitious growth plan for ourself and we cannot be left behind. [music] >> Elaine didn't wait to be left behind. She enrolled in a structured AI course tapping into skills future funding available to mid-career workers. It wasn't instant. She says it took months of experimentation before she moved beyond basic prompting to building her own custom GPTs. Today, she uses AI to prepare lessons, help with marking, and analyze students work. She estimates it's cut her administrative workload by 50%. But this wasn't about automation for speed. >> It protected my earning capacity by keeping my skills relevant. So, more importantly, it allowed me to do higher value work uh instead of burning hours on repetitive task. This is something that I have built for my students. It's actually a GPT where they can upload the photo of their math question and it will be they will be guided uh step by step on how to solve it. So basically here it shows what the topic is, what the unknown is and of course what the the strategy and reason and it's guided here the steps what steps one what do the kids need to do step two and of course some uh common mistakes that you know the kids might fall into and of course uh finally the answers itself. She also feeds in marking schemes and past scripts, allowing AI to analyze patterns in student performance. Tasks [music] that once took hours now take far less time. But Elaine says the rail shift isn't productivity. So ultimately I think the goal is not for faster outputs, okay, but mainly for better thinking, better decisions and also perhaps better outcomes in that sense. And this shift isn't limited to education. Across industries, companies are restructuring roles as AI tools become more powerful. And those who can show practical [music] AI skills are setting the expectation. I may see [music] that I'm using CHB every day. I'm using at home. I'm using at work. You know, I feel AI ready. I'm using it daily. I mean, it cannot be more than that, right? Um but I think a lot of it is still very ad hoc use. um very casual use for employers. I think being AI ready is really a whole organization effort. I think they are really looking at bit how it's being tied to business outcomes to help workers adapt. AI literacy will be strengthened in schools and universities. The skills future website will be redesigned to make [music] AI related courses easier to find. Those who enroll will receive up to 6 months of premium AI [music] tool subscriptions. Premium versions typically include access to more advanced models capable of faster [music] and more complex reasoning as well as priority access during peak usage. But incentives only matter if they're used. The government is not asking us to just take a cost for the sake of having a cost. And more importantly is that once you attend these AI course, how are you going to apply in your job? So when you have this free subscription, you have no excuse that you have no access to the tool for you to practice. And the more you practice, the fear will start to go away and you can use it for your work. So what does this mean for you? First, be an early adopter and start before disruption forces you to. Second, focus on practical skills, not just certificates. But I think it's the attitude right that you're just keeping up with with the the the new developments. Um you are just actively um developing yourself. You're growing. You are keeping up with the times. >> One clear message is transformation is not going to be solely led by the government. These incentives are there but you got to want to use it. You want to apply. >> Elaine says she'll take up more courses to deepen her AI skills. She no longer sees AI as a threat but as career insurance against stagnation or even redundancy. >> I would say AI should serve as a tool. Okay. And those who learn to use it well will move ahead with times and those who fear or avoid it will struggle and eventually be replaced by people who know how to use it in their scope of work. With the new budget measures, the hope is that more will have the support and confidence [music] to do the same as Elaine. Turning AI from a source of anxiety into a tool for working better and protecting your income.

As AI reshapes workplaces, one tutor learns to use it before it replaces her. Can upskilling with Budget 2026 support protect your earning power? ======================== For more of Money Mind: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkMf14VQEvTZgHFM-uTxXiJ1Fll4SwL4y ========================== #CNAInsider #MoneyMindCNA #Singapore #SGBudget2026 #Budget2026 #AI #JobSecurity For more, SUBSCRIBE to CNA INSIDER! https://cna.asia/insideryoutubesub Follow CNA INSIDER on: Telegram: https://t.me/CNAInsiderSG Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cnainsider/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cnainsider/ Website: https://cna.asia/cnainsider