Scott Shuey · · 5 min readAI isn’t smart, but grads still need it
Welcome to The Prompt, your Monday dive into the world of AI that puts Asia front and center. From Big Tech’s power players to the region’s scrappy disruptors, we cover it all. Want full access to all our AI reporting? Subscribe to us here.
Hello reader,
Just in case you haven’t heard this already, I’m going to shout: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS CERTAINLY ARTIFICIAL, BUT IT IS NOT INTELLIGENT. IT IS A STATISTICAL GUESS.
To be fair, it’s often a good guess – as it should be when millions of dollars are spent on chips to calculate the odds of what the next word or phrase is going to be in a sentence.
Image credit: Timmy Loen
It’s no surprise many companies are keeping humans “in the loop.” This amazing statistical machine we’ve created isn’t intuitive, creative, or really capable of doing anything outside of the data it’s been trained on. So while AI is a great tool, don’t expect it to do your thinking for you.
Still, knowing how to use it is paramount, especially for college graduates entering the workforce. AI without humans can be a disaster, but humans without AI are apparently becoming unhireable. You can read all about it in today’s first Top Story.
Our second story looks at what can happen when you do have AI skills. US companies are facing an AI talent shortage, which is pushing them to outsource to developers in Asia.
And finally, we’ll take a look at the experts in the AI industry in India and then recap some of the biggest news surrounding the tech, from US President Donald Trump’s infamous dinner with Tech’s biggest names – minus Tesla CEO Elon Musk – to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s comments on the dead internet theory.
Scott Shuey, senior tech journalist
TOP AI READS FROM OUR DESK
1️⃣ AI transforms entry-level work in SEA, but new grads stay hirable
Image credit: Timmy Loen
Unlike what’s happening in the US, AI is not killing off entry-level jobs in Southeast Asia. That’s good news, but it also comes with a caveat: New graduates are expected to have a working knowledge of AI tools. In fact, entry-level jobs demanding AI skills in Singapore rose to 40% in the first half of 2025.
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