Singapore’s AI Misinformation Gap Is Driving a New Workplace Reading Initiative

That matters because identifying a polished but unreliable passage requires more than spotting obvious errors. It requires readers to examine who made a claim, what evidence supports it and whether the cited material can be trusted.

How Read to Lead is designed to respond

The National Library Board (NLB) and KPMG launched the year-long Read to Lead: Building an AI-Ready Mind on 14 July 2026. The initiative presents sustained reading as a workplace capability that can strengthen critical thinking, discernment, AI literacy, information literacy and digital literacy.

Its opening Knowledge Week, held from 14 to 16 July, featured interactive activities, quizzes, panel discussions and expert talks. NLB also provided digital-reading recommendations spanning AI, business, fiction and lighter reading, connecting professional development with broader reading habits.

The programme is also expected to include AI-literacy and trusted-practices talks at NLB libraries, as well as an NLB–KPMG educational toolkit on AI and countering misinformation for PMETs and businesses.

The advice behind the initiative

Slow down before accepting or sharing information

Rahayu Mahzam’s message was not to halt AI adoption, but to develop habits that make its use more responsible: pause rather than skim or react, ask better questions, check sources, apply judgment and retain empathy. She linked reading with slower thinking, broader perspectives and stronger attention.

She also argued that employers should not measure AI adoption only through efficiency and productivity. Investment in human cognition, self-management and adaptability is needed so workers can contribute to more meaningful work as organisations adopt AI.

Question both the claim and its source

Warren Fernandez emphasised that critical reading involves slowing down and reflecting rather than simply absorbing information quickly. Readers should question whether a claim is true and examine its source or author. That active interrogation helps people form independent judgments instead of outsourcing their beliefs to AI.

Read beyond familiar viewpoints

Gerry Chng advised people to read across disciplines and outside their usual interests. His concern was that AI systems trained increasingly on AI-generated material could compound errors, bias and generalisations, narrowing the range of perspectives in their outputs. Deliberately seeking unfamiliar information can help counter that echo-chamber effect.

Reading as an AI-era skill

The initiative’s central idea is practical rather than nostalgic: reading can help people build the attention, source evaluation, contextual judgment, adaptability and independent thinking needed to use AI well. The poll shows why those capabilities matter, while Read to Lead turns them into a workplace development goal through activities, talks and learning resources.