Robots will help, not replace humans: OCBC CEO
Singapore
AMID an era of driverless cars and humanoid robots, there is "no reason" for humans to be fearful of artificial intelligence (AI), said OCBC's chief executive officer Samuel Tsien.
"AI is only a result of our knowledge; while it can now be accumulated in robots to carry out certain tasks, we (humans) will always be in charge," he said.
Mr Tsien was speaking on Monday at OCBC's Future Smart Learning Festival, a two-day programme held at OCBC Campus, the bank's learning hub at Tanjong Pagar, from July 8 to 9.
Staff can explore new technologies at more than 20 booths and attend panel discussions and talks centered on upskilling and reskilling.
Prior to his opening address, Mr Tsien briefly interacted with Nadine, a socially intelligent robot that can return greetings, express emotions and remember past conversations.
The pair introduced themselves as strangers would and waved to cameras. Mr Tsien noted that his human- like interaction with Nadine marks a gradual shift towards a "hybrid workforce" where robots can work alongside humans.
While the prospect of an increasingly automated workforce raises uncertainty about the future of jobs, he said that jobs "will not disappear" as tasks can be divided into two categories - "brain work" and "labour work".
The latter refers to repetitive tasks that are largely based on analytics, and hence, can be easily automated, said Mr Tsien. One example is the processing of cash transactions.
The former refers to higher order tasks such as creative problem solving and developing new strategies.
"We (humans) will always be dominating in terms of brain work. If we can supplement this brain work with automated tasks, we will be able to move much faster into the future," said Mr Tsien.
With that, employees should have a "sense of urgency" and be open to learning new tech skills.
"It is now an era where you can use AI to help you. Once you have the right mindset to learn, (picking up) the new skill set is the easy part," said Mr Tsien.
The OCBC Future Smart Learning Festival is a follow-up initiative to the bank's Future Smart Programme launched in May last year.
OCBC has committed to invest S$20 million over three years to train and develop the bank's 29,000 employees globally. Employees can sign up for courses across seven digital domains, including digital business models and technology and data.
In 2018, more than 11,000 OCBC staff have been trained in relevant digital and fintech skills.
According to a recent report by professional network LinkedIn last month, blockchain, human-centred design and workflow automation are the top three "rising skills" in Singapore.
These skills have seen significant month-on-month growth in user listings from January 2014 to December last year, said the report.
