PA to roll out $7 beginner-friendly AI courses from November

SINGAPORE – Affordable and beginner-friendly artificial intelligence courses will be rolled out by the People’s Association (PA) in November.

The aim is for the 25 short courses to help residents unfamiliar with AI, such as seniors, understand AI and build confidence in using such tools in their daily lives. Topics include photography and photo enhancement, and using AI for travel planning.

Deputy chairman of PA Edwin Tong announced the courses on Oct 10 at PA’s annual community seminar.

Each two- to three-hour course under the AI @ Your Neighbourhood programme will cost $7 from November 2026 to October 2027, and $10 thereafter.

About 60 residents in Buangkok, Bukit Batok East and Geylang Serai attended the pilots of these courses held at community centres from August.

Dorothy Villanueva, 63, signed up for one of these with her friends whom she often travels overseas with.

“I usually leave the planning with AI to my children, but after the course, I feel more confident doing it myself. Now, we can use what we learnt to plan our next trip together,” she said.

Other AI initiatives

Separately, PA on Oct 10 said it will launch an AI voice assistant on onePA, the association’s digital platform for bookings of courses and facilities.

Residents can tell the voice assistant what they are looking for in English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil, and it will recommend suitable programmes and facilities based on their interests and current availability.

The AI will also guide users through booking and payment for “an almost hands-free experience”.

It is expected to be launched by early 2027.

Also starting from early 2027, a roving AI robot concierge will also be launched at Punggol North Community Centre to provide information and help residents plan activities around their interests and schedules, among other things.

If there is anything the robot cannot help with, it can direct residents to the community centre’s staff.

Residents can speak or use a touchscreen to interact with the robot, which will be deployed at more community centres progressively.

Tong, who is also Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs, said: “Our aim is to use AI to take away manual and administrative work, to allow our staff and volunteers to focus on what really matters – nurturing the human connection, empathy and care for our residents.”

Isabelle Liew is a journalist at The Straits Times. She covers housing issues in Singapore, with a focus on public housing.