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

A series of affordable and beginner-friendly artificial intelligence courses will be rolled out by the People’s Association (PA) in November 2026.

PHOTO: PEOPLE’S ASSOCIATION

Published Oct 10, 2026, 05:20 PM

Updated Oct 10, 2026, 05:20 PM

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.

AI/artificial intelligence

People's Association

人民协会（PA）将于2026年11月推出一系列价格亲民、适合初学者的AI课程。

照片：人民协会

发布于2026年10月10日下午5:20

更新于2026年10月10日下午5:20

新加坡——人民协会（PA）将于11月推出价格亲民、适合初学者的AI课程。

这25门短期课程旨在帮助不熟悉人工智能的居民，例如老年人，了解人工智能，并建立在日常生活中使用此类工具的信心。课程主题包括摄影和照片增强，以及利用人工智能进行旅行规划。

宾夕法尼亚州议会副主席埃德温·唐于10月10日在宾夕法尼亚州议会年度社区研讨会上宣布了这些课程。

从 2026 年 11 月到 2027 年 10 月，AI @ Your Neighbourhood 计划下的每门两到三小时的课程收费 7 美元，之后收费 10 美元。

8 月起，万国、武吉巴督东和芽笼士乃约有 60 名居民参加了在社区中心举办的这些课程的试点项目。

63岁的多萝西·维拉纽瓦和她经常一起出国旅行的朋友们一起报名参加了其中一项活动。

“我通常把用人工智能规划行程的工作交给孩子们，但上了这门课之后，我觉得自己更有信心了。现在，我们可以用学到的知识来规划下一次的旅行了，”她说。

其他人工智能计划

另外，PA 于 10 月 10 日表示，将在其用于预订课程和设施的数字平台 onePA 上推出 AI 语音助手。

居民可以用英语、普通话、马来语和泰米尔语告诉语音助手他们想找什么，语音助手会根据他们的兴趣和当前的可用情况推荐合适的项目和设施。

人工智能还将引导用户完成预订和支付，实现“几乎无需人工干预的体验”。

预计将于2027年初推出。

此外，从 2027 年初开始，榜鹅北社区中心还将推出一款流动人工智能机器人礼宾服务，为居民提供信息，并帮助他们根据自己的兴趣和时间安排规划活动等等。

如果机器人无法提供帮助，它可以引导居民联系社区中心的工作人员。

居民可以通过语音或触摸屏与机器人互动，该机器人将逐步部署到更多社区中心。

同时担任律政部长和民政事务第二部长的唐先生表示：“我们的目标是利用人工智能来减轻人工和行政工作，让我们的员工和志愿者能够专注于真正重要的事情——培养与居民之间的人际联系、同理心和关怀。”

Isabelle Liew是《海峡时报》的记者，主要报道新加坡的住房问题，尤其关注公共住房。

人工智能

人民协会