Briefing
Art in the Age of AI
Singapore's first arts university makes the case for the human advantage at its inaugural commencement.
By Jocelyn Suarez
Photo credit: University of the Arts Singapore
19 August 2026
In brief
- Singapore’s first arts university celebrates its inaugural commencement, arguing AI makes human-led creativity more vital than ever.
- Educators prioritise "productive struggle" and human judgment to ensure students engage with AI ethically and critically.
- Strategic interdisciplinary collaboration and process-based assessments prepare graduates to lead innovation by asking essential human questions.
As we enter a time increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, the answer to some of higher education's most pressing questions may lie in an education that has long been considered less practical: the arts.
"Technology can create content, but to make this content deeply meaningful and impactful, we need people to ask the right questions, make sense of complexity, decide what is worth creating, and think completely out of the box," said Desmond Lee, Singapore's Minister for Education, at the inaugural commencement ceremony of the University of the Arts Singapore (UAS).
"That is why an arts education matters more than ever."
The ceremony marked a milestone for Singapore's higher education landscape. An alliance between LASALLE College of the Arts and the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), UAS was formed in 2021 as Singapore's first university dedicated to the arts. Held on 7 August, the graduation was the first time a cohort from both LASALLE and NAFA completed their studies under the UAS banner.
Yet beyond celebrating a graduating class, the event became a reflection on the future of higher education itself – and the distinctly human qualities universities must cultivate in an AI-powered world.
Creating meaning in an AI-generated future
Artificial intelligence was never presented as the enemy of creativity. Instead, speakers at UAS’ inaugural commencement framed it as a catalyst for rethinking what makes human creativity valuable.
Professor Kwok Kian Woon, Vice Chancellor of UAS, reminded graduates that while technology has given society unprecedented access to vast volumes of knowledge, "our enduring value lies in our capacity for human judgement and for responsible decision-making". Their education, he said, had given them specialised and interdisciplinary arts training while developing them "as whole persons".
That sentiment was shared by Minister Lee, who acknowledged the uncertainty many graduates feel as rapid technological advances reshape society and the workplace. Yet rather than questioning the relevance of an arts education, he argued the opposite.
"As technology becomes more capable," he said, "deeply human qualities will matter ever more: creativity, judgement, empathy, cultural fluency, wisdom and values."
In his commencement speech, Mitchell Hoo, recipient of the McNally Award for Excellence in the Arts — an award recognising the most outstanding graduate at LASALLE — acknowledged that AI has understandably sparked anxiety within creative industries. Yet he encouraged fellow graduates to see technological disruption not as a reason to retreat, but as an opportunity to evolve.
“While AI may augment creativity, the imagination and purpose behind it remain uniquely our own," he said.
Photo credit: University of the Arts Singapore
Rethinking the purpose of art and higher education
For universities around the world, the rapid rise of generative AI has prompted fundamental questions about curriculum, assessment and graduate employability. For UAS, the conversation went beyond simply teaching students how to use new technology.
Speaking to QS Insights, Professor Kwok said UAS wants students to move beyond AI literacy and learn to engage with AI "ethically, critically and with a strong sense of human agency". Students and faculty across LASALLE and NAFA are already exploring emerging technologies for ideation, experimentation, visualisation and interdisciplinary practice across areas, including design, fashion, photography, animation, film and performance.
At the same time, the university is conscious of what students could lose if technology simply makes the creative process easier.
Professor Kwok described the importance of allowing students to experience "productive struggle": grappling with difficult problems, making mistakes and deepening their craft before turning to AI at particular stages of their work. The aim, he said, is to help students develop their own discernment and creative agency rather than bypassing the difficult parts of learning.
That philosophy extends beyond individual artistic disciplines. UAS' Common Curriculum brings LASALLE and NAFA students together for interdisciplinary learning, while Industry-Based Learning through internships and live projects gives students opportunities to adapt, collaborate and solve problems in real-world settings.
Professor Kwok argued that arts graduates should be seen not only as future artists and designers, but as collaborators in an innovation-driven economy.
"Arts graduates certainly play a crucial role in Singapore's innovation-driven economy – not just alongside but in active collaboration with STEM graduates," he said. “Our specialist arts education is complemented by interdisciplinary learning… By combining critical thinking and creative practice, our graduates contribute to a wide range of sectors, including public service, education, healthcare, business, and technology.”
UAS’ approach reflects a broader understanding of what an arts education can offer, and this is already being tested against the realities of AI. In Singapore's arts education sector, institutions are moving away from simply policing students' use of generative AI and towards understanding how it can be used responsibly in creative practice.
LASALLE, for example, established a working group on GenAI in 2024 and introduced guidelines for its use in assignments. Its assessment practices increasingly emphasise students' creative processes, including journals, drafts and oral explanations, rather than relying on AI detection tools alone.
For Keane Tay Hao Qing, recipient of NAFA's award for its most outstanding graduate, the Ngee Ann Kongsi Gold Medal, this capacity to question is at the heart of design education.
In his commencement speech, Tay said that design was never simply about finding the right answer. "There is no answer sheet for empathy. There is no marking scale for curiosity and definitely no model solution for imagination," he said. Designers, he argued, must observe, listen and empathise before they begin creating.
Tay later told QS Insights that while AI may make it easier to generate answers and outputs, artists and designers can distinguish themselves by "challeng[ing] the status quo and imagin[ing] possibilities beyond what already exists".
"We are trained not to settle for what is, but to keep asking what it could be," he said.
Photo credit: University of the Arts Singapore
An international university for Asia's creative economy
Although the commencement marked a distinctly Singaporean milestone, its outlook was international.
In his opening remarks, Professor Kwok welcomed graduates and families from ASEAN, China, India and other countries, noting that UAS, Singapore's arts institutions and the nation itself "thrive within and draw inspiration from SEA, the wider Asian region, and beyond".
Both LASALLE and NAFA have long attracted students from across Asia, and UAS intends to build on those existing connections.
Professor Kwok told QS Insights that the university plans to expand its regional networks through student exchange and artistic and educational collaboration. “We want our faculty, students, and graduates to look beyond Singapore, learn from different cultures, and collaborate across borders,” he said.
The university also participates in regional and global platforms including symposia, conferences, faculty exchanges, festivals and residencies, with the aim of developing a distinctive voice in arts education, practice and research within the region and beyond.
This ambition is reflected in UAS' broader mission. The university says it aims to combine teaching, practice and research while working with arts communities and industry partners locally and internationally, strengthening Singapore's position as a creative hub in Asia.
Photo credit: University of the Arts Singapore
The human advantage
As the ceremony drew to a close, it became evident that the occasion represented more than the conferral of degrees. It offered a vision for what arts education can become in an era of rapid technological transformation.
Throughout the morning, speakers did not argue that the arts should be protected from AI. Instead, they suggested something more ambitious: that the rise of AI makes human creativity, empathy, judgement and curiosity even more valuable.
For UAS, the inaugural commencement celebrated the achievements of one graduating class. But it also marked the beginning of its ambition to position arts education not as an alternative to technological progress, but as one of its essential complements.
That may ultimately be the human advantage UAS is trying to cultivate. As Hoo put it: “Anybody can pick up a camera, garner followers to influence trends, or prompt a piece of content. But when the ability to produce creative work becomes increasingly democratic, the point of view becomes a rarity.”
The future of creative work will not necessarily belong to those who reject new technologies, or simply to those who adopt them fastest. The ability to ask why, to understand another person's experience, to imagine what does not yet exist and to decide what is worth creating remains at the heart of creative work.
And perhaps that is why, in the age of AI, the case for arts education is not about preserving the past.
It is about preparing people to imagine the future.
MEET THE AUTHOR
Jocelyn Suarez is Deputy Editor of QS Insights, where she covers ideas, trends and challenges shaping the future of higher education. She is an editor and writer with a decade of experience across digital media, content strategy and journalism. She is closely involved with Singapore's literary and arts scene, including through SingLit Station and the Singapore Writers Festival, and has a longstanding interest in the role of arts and culture in society.