Young Adults Under 35 Show Lowest AI Adoption Rates in Singapore

A new survey from AsiaOne has uncovered a surprising dynamic in Singapore's AI landscape: adults under 35 report the lowest adoption rates of generative AI tools and the most negative views of AI's impact on society. The finding cuts against the stereotype of young people as early technology adopters and raises questions about how the next generation of workers will integrate AI into their professional lives.

The survey of 1,347 Singaporeans conducted between December 2025 and February 2026 found that 39% of working respondents under 35 do not use generative AI at work at all. Only 55% use it weekly — the lowest rate across all age groups, compared to 69% for those aged 35 to 54 and 64% for those 55 and older. In their personal lives, roughly 40% of under-35s do not use GenAI, versus 18% for the 35-54 bracket. The perception gap is even starker: younger adults rated AI's likely impact on individual thinking and reasoning at -0.75 on a -2 to +2 scale, while older demographics rated it positive. For arts and culture, the gap widened to -0.94 for under-35s versus +0.41 for those 55 and older.

Survey respondents voiced concerns about AI reducing critical thinking, producing unreliable information, and enabling laziness. One doctor noted that using AI "removes the process of critical thinking and problem solving," while a corporate concierge worried about the environmental impact of data centres powering trivial AI queries. Yet the same cohort that expresses skepticism also includes active AI users — a product manager described using Claude as a "personal consultant for everyday questions" while consciously avoiding over-dependence.

The findings arrive as Singapore's government pushes aggressively on AI adoption. PM Lawrence Wong leads the National AI Council, the Enterprise Innovation Scheme offers 400% tax deductions for AI expenditures, and a Tripartite Council was formed in April 2026 to manage AI's impact on workers. Edmund Chua of AsiaOne noted that business leaders aged 35 to 54 are driving adoption from the top, but it remains to be seen how younger Singaporeans will respond to efforts to encourage AI uptake.

Why it matters for Singapore: If the next generation entering the workforce is skeptical of AI while senior management embraces it, Singapore faces a potential adoption bottleneck in the coming years. The government's AI upskilling push — including mandatory AI courses for all university and polytechnic students from 2027 — will need to address not just capability gaps but also the underlying perception barriers among the young.