One of the greatest opportunities we can offer young people isn’t simply access to knowledge, it’s access to people who challenge the way they think.
That is the purpose behind youth@WORK’s Think Tank Thursday sessions. Held regularly for the young people and alumni in our programme, these online conversations bring together industry leaders, entrepreneurs, academics and specialists from around the world to share practical insights on the trends, skills and ideas shaping the future of work. They are designed to expose young people to new ways of thinking, encourage curiosity and equip them to navigate an ever-changing world of work with confidence.
Recently, we had the privilege of welcoming Dr Wendy Tan, an international speaker, researcher and managing partner of The Flame Centre, based in Singapore. Dr Tan has spent the last 2 years researching how people can work more effectively with Artificial Intelligence (AI) without losing the very thing that makes us uniquely human: our ability to think. Drawing on her latest book, Smarter: 5 Steps to True Human-AI Collaboration, she challenged our youth@WORK participants to reconsider not whether they should use AI, but how they should use it.
It was a refreshing perspective.
Much of the conversation around AI focuses on efficiency, productivity and automation. We hear daily about AI writing reports, analysing data, creating presentations and even replacing certain jobs. But Dr Tan posed a far more important question: How do we use AI to enhance our thinking rather than replace it?
Her answer was both reassuring and challenging.
The future won’t belong to the people who simply know how to use AI. It will belong to those who know how to think alongside it.
Throughout the session, Dr Tan encouraged participants to move beyond seeing AI as a vending machine and instead use it as a thinking partner; one that can help generate ideas, challenge assumptions, accelerate learning and improve decision-making, while ensuring that human judgement, creativity and critical thinking remain firmly in the driver’s seat.
The discussion sparked many responses from participants across South Africa, many of whom admitted their biggest concern wasn’t AI taking their jobs, but becoming so dependent on it that they stop thinking for themselves. It was an honest conversation, and one that highlighted an important truth: the greatest risk isn’t AI, it’s losing confidence in our own intelligence.
As workplaces continue to evolve, the ability to ask better questions, think critically, challenge ideas and make sound decisions will become even more valuable. AI can support those capabilities, but it cannot replace them.
That message aligns closely with youth@WORK’s own mission. Preparing young people for employment has never been only about helping them secure a job. It is about developing adaptable, resilient people who can continue learning throughout their careers, regardless of how technology changes.
One of the most powerful ideas Dr Tan shared was that success with AI doesn’t begin with writing better prompts. It begins before the prompt is even written. The real advantage lies in pausing to think:
- What problem am I trying to solve?
- Who am I solving it for?
- What do I already know?
- What assumptions should I challenge?
When we think first and prompt second, AI becomes a powerful collaborator rather than a substitute for our own judgement.
Perhaps the most inspiring takeaway came at the close of the session. For the first time in history, a young person in a township has access to the same powerful AI tools as a multinational organisation’s CEO. Access is no longer the greatest barrier. The real differentiator is learning how to think well.
At youth@WORK, we believe that is a skill worth investing in.
Watch the full Think Tank Thursday session on the youth@WORK Think Tank YouTube Channel and discover how you can stay in the driver’s seat in an AI-powered world.
The content of Dr Wendy Tan’s presentation is the copyright of The Flame Centre (www.flamcentre.com) and Dr Wendy Tan. To learn more, visit www.wendy-tan.com or explore her book, Smarter: 5 Steps to True Human-AI Collaboration, available on Amazon.
