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Scarcity has shifted, not disappeared: The premise of AI abundance needs sharper evidence

Singapore needs tractable policy questions about AI, not grand narratives about a post-scarcity future

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    • The call to rethink Singapore’s social architecture is well-intentioned, but it understates the extent to which the nation has already acted.
    • The call to rethink Singapore’s social architecture is well-intentioned, but it understates the extent to which the nation has already acted. PHOTO: BT FILE

    Daniel Liebau

    Published Thu, May 14, 2026 · 07:00 AM

    A RECENT commentary in these pages (“The coming AI-driven ‘abundance’ shock”, Apr 14, 2026) argued that artificial intelligence is quietly rendering scarcity obsolete, and that Singapore must redesign its social architecture for a world of boundless machine-generated plenty.

    The argument rests on a seductive premise: that AI allows knowledge, analysis and creativity to be replicated at near-zero marginal cost. From this, the authors raise far-reaching concerns about identity crises, cognitive instability and the erosion of democratic deliberation.

    These are important questions. But the premise on which their arguments rests deserves closer scrutiny, and the policy conclusions that follow would benefit from sharper empirical grounding.

    Artificial IntelligenceAI governanceElectricityS-chipsSingapore economy

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