By the WahLiao desk · Last verified 1 October 2026
Using Super Intelligence well, the kind of AI behind ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, comes down to three habits: brief it like a capable new colleague who knows nothing about your situation, use it for drafting and explaining rather than for facts you cannot check, and verify anything that matters against the official source. The free plans are enough to practise on; paid plans start at S$6.98 a month for Google AI Plus. AI Singapore’s AI for Everyone course is free and takes about 90 minutes, and from 16 September 2026 citizens aged 18 and above who finish an eligible SkillsFuture AI course can get six months of a premium tool at no cost.
The single most useful rule: treat every answer as a first draft from a confident intern. It is often very good, it is sometimes wrong, and it rarely tells you which is which.
Using AI well: quick facts
| Best uses | Drafting, summarising, translating, explaining, brainstorming, planning, coding help |
| Weak spots | Current facts without search, sums without a calculator tool, citations, Singapore rules and fees |
| How to ask | Context, role, example, format, then refine |
| How to check | Open the sources yourself; confirm on the gov.sg or agency site |
| Never paste | NRIC, passwords, one-time codes, bank details, medical records, client files |
| Free learning | AI for Everyone (AI Singapore, free, about 90 minutes); SkillsFuture AI courses |
The WahLiao Verdict
| Worth it for | The blank page: first drafts, summaries, plans. |
| Not worth it for | Final answers on CPF, HDB, tax or law. |
| Biggest upgrade | Give it context. Two extra sentences beat a paid plan. |
| Biggest trap | Invented citations that look perfectly real. |
| At work | Follow the policy, disclose the use, own the result. |
How to ask: context, role, example, format
The providers themselves give the same advice. OpenAI’s help centre says to make prompts clear and specific with enough context, then refine based on what comes back. Anthropic’s guide for Claude suggests picturing a brilliant new employee who has no background on your situation: if a colleague would be confused by your request, the model will be too. In practice, a good request has four parts.
Context: who you are, what the situation is and why you need it. Role: one line such as “act as an experienced HR executive in Singapore” sharpens tone. Example: paste a sample of the style you want, or a past email that worked. Format: say how long, how formal, bullet points or a table, British English.
Then iterate. The first reply is a starting point: ask it to shorten, change the tone, drop the jargon or give three alternatives. Replying “too stiff, make it sound like a polite neighbour” works better than starting over. If you want to know why it gets things wrong in the first place, read How Super Intelligence works.
What it is good at, and what it is not
| Good for | Check carefully | Don’t use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Drafting emails, letters, speeches | Names, dates, amounts it inserts | Sending anything unread |
| Summarising long letters and reports | Deadlines and figures in the summary | Deciding what a CPF or HDB rule means for you |
| Translating Chinese, Malay, Tamil | Tone and formality for elders or officials | Legal or medical documents without a human translator |
| Explaining a concept simply | Anything that changed recently | Current prices, schedules or rules without search |
| Brainstorming and planning | Opening hours, bookings, travel rules | Final itineraries you have not verified |
| Coding help and spreadsheet formulas | Calculations, run them yourself | Maths you cannot check |
| Finding sources to read | Every link and citation, open it | Quoting references you have not seen |
The pattern is simple. Language tasks, where you can judge the result by reading it, are its strength. Facts, figures and local rules, where a wrong answer looks exactly like a right one, are where it slips.
How to check an answer
OpenAI’s own help centre lists fabricated quotes, studies, citations and references to non-existent sources among the mistakes ChatGPT can make, and notes that it may sound highly confident when it is wrong. Singapore’s Cyber Security Agency (CSA) and IMDA give the same advice in their joint advisory, Safe & Secure Use of Generative AI for Individuals: cross-check against official sources, and pause to ask whether the information makes sense and can be confirmed before you use or share it.
Three checks cover most cases. First, ask for sources, then click every one: a real link that does not say what the answer claims is as bad as a fake one. Second, for anything about CPF, HDB, IRAS, MOM or ICA, go to the agency’s own site or log in with Singpass; gov.sg addresses end in .gov.sg. Third, for anything consequential, medical, legal or financial, the chatbot helps you prepare questions; a professional gives the answer.
Four Singapore worked examples
An email to your town council
Try: “I live in a Punggol HDB block. The corridor light outside my unit has been faulty for two weeks. Draft a short, polite email to my town council asking for repair. Include my block and unit as placeholders. British English, under 120 words.” Check the details, then send. For simple municipal faults, the government’s OneService chatbot on WhatsApp and Telegram routes reports to the right agency for you.
Summarising an HDB or CPF letter
Remove your NRIC, account numbers and address first, then ask: “Summarise this letter in five plain bullet points: what it is about, what I must do, and by when.” Treat the summary as a reading aid. Confirm the deadline and amounts by logging in to the CPF or HDB site with Singpass, not by trusting the summary, and be wary of any letter or message that asks you to click a link to pay.
Planning a JB day trip
Ask for a rough plan: “Plan a relaxed Saturday day trip to Johor Bahru for two adults by public transport, food-focused, back by 9pm.” It is good at structure and ideas. It is weak on today’s opening hours, prices, exchange rates and checkpoint rules, so confirm those on official and venue sites before you go.
Translating for family
Ask: “Translate this into simple, respectful Chinese for my 75-year-old grandmother. Then translate it back into English so I can check the meaning.” The back-translation catches most slips. The same works for Malay and Tamil. AI Singapore’s SEA-LION models, built for Southeast Asian languages, have a free public playground if you want a second opinion.
Privacy and workplace etiquette
The CSA and IMDA advisory is blunt: avoid giving chatbots your full name, address, identification numbers, or financial or medical details, and choose tools with clear privacy policies. Our guide to what happens to what you type, and what the PDPA covers shows how to switch off training on each major tool.
At work, the same advisory warns against uploading confidential company data without authorisation. Check your employer’s policy on which tools are approved and what may be pasted into them, tell your manager or client when Super Intelligence has materially shaped a piece of work, and remember that your name, not the chatbot’s, is on the result. If you are weighing how the technology affects your role, see Budget 2026 and your job.
Free ways to learn
AI Singapore’s AI for Everyone (AI4E) course is free, runs online and takes about 90 minutes; version 4 adds generative AI and responsible use. Its LearnAI platform lists longer courses, including AI for Industry literacy and foundations tracks. Through SkillsFuture, completing an eligible AI course from 16 September 2026 unlocks six months of a free premium tool for citizens aged 18 and above. If you are deciding whether to pay at all, compare free and paid plans in S$ first. When the basics feel easy, How to master Super Intelligence sets out a 90-day path to fluency.
Using AI well: FAQ
How do I write a good prompt for ChatGPT or Claude?
Give context, a role, an example of what you want and the format you need, then refine the reply rather than starting again.
Can I trust AI answers about CPF, HDB or tax?
Use them to understand the topic, then confirm on the official agency website or by logging in with Singpass. Rules and figures change, and chatbots can be confidently wrong.
Why does AI make up sources?
It predicts plausible text, and a plausible reference is not always a real one. OpenAI lists fabricated citations among known errors, so open every link before relying on it.
Should I tell my boss I used AI?
Follow your company’s policy, and disclose use when it has materially shaped the work. Never paste confidential data into a tool your employer has not approved.
Where can I learn AI for free in Singapore?
AI Singapore’s AI for Everyone is free and takes about 90 minutes. Eligible SkillsFuture AI courses completed from 16 September 2026 also come with six months of a free premium tool for citizens aged 18 and above.
Read next
This page belongs to Super Intelligence. For the bigger picture, read AGI and superintelligence explained, or go further with How to master Super Intelligence.
Sources checked 1 October 2026: OpenAI Help Center, prompt engineering best practices; Anthropic, prompting best practices for Claude; OpenAI Help Center, incorrect information and fabricated citations; CSA and IMDA, Safe & Secure Use of Generative AI for Individuals; MDDI, OneService chatbot; AI Singapore, AI for Everyone; AI Singapore, LearnAI; AI Singapore, SEA-LION; gov.sg, support for workers in the AI transition; SkillsFuture Singapore, COS 2026 highlights. General information, not financial, legal or medical advice. Last updated 1 October 2026.
