KUALA LUMPUR: The use of artificial intelligence (AI) is beneficial in learning if students do not abandon the culture of reading and critical thinking in their pursuit of knowledge, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
He said students should not rely entirely on AI but instead use it as a new tool to enhance the knowledge they acquire.
"As a nation, we must avoid merely borrowing and copying. Instead, we must strive to embrace technology and explore new fields, providing valuable input that can contribute.
"Secondly, we must recognise its limitations. This is why, without applying critical thinking, AI-generated responses may be seen as absolute, which is insufficient.
"Therefore, our foundational knowledge, values, ethics, faith and beliefs are also essential, so we can evaluate and select what we deem important and what falls outside our intellectual corpus and priorities," he said.
Anwar said this in response to a question during a session with students at the National Defence University of Malaysia (UPNM) at the Temu Anwar Dialogue programme, here.
Also present were Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, UPNM board chairman Tan Sri Dr Syed Azman Syed Ibrahim and UPNM vice-chancellor Lieutenant-General Datuk Mardzuki Muhammad.
He also said while AI technology was developed by the West with Western frameworks and values, local expertise must input appropriate data aligned with Eastern values and norms into the technology.
Anwar said in a recent meeting with the head of Nvidia, who is also one of the pioneers of AI technology, he had expressed his concerns about the technology, which is clearly a Western creation rooted in Western thought.
"However, the Nvidia head responded by saying we need to train local people to the point where they are capable of inputting the required information, so the information or data interpreted by AI and the resulting output aligns with our thinking, religion, culture and history.
"This is interesting. It means that whatever knowledge corpus is input will be 'outputted', and nothing external to that will emerge.
"Therefore, our role in AI training, as Zambry mentioned with some universities focusing on AI, is not only to master the AI discipline itself but to ensure that the 'input' fulfils all requirements," he said.