MALAYSIA must prepare its young people for an AI-driven workforce without allowing them to become overly reliant on technology at the expense of independent thought, Nurul Izzah Anwar has warned.
The Suluh Centre executive chairperson said AI literacy should go beyond knowing how to operate digital tools, stressing the importance of questioning information and distinguishing facts from answers that merely sound convincing.
Izzah shared her views at the launch of the AI Skills Passport at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), where she called for a more critical approach to the adoption of artificial intelligence.
While acknowledging the opportunities offered by AI, she said human judgement must not be surrendered to technology.
She also urged Malaysians to look beyond the capabilities of AI systems and question who develops them, whose data they use, what values they reflect and who ultimately benefits from their adoption.
Izzah said Malaysia needed greater confidence in its own intellectual traditions and values as it embraced technological change.
Citing Maqasid al-Shariah, she said progress should not be judged solely by efficiency, but also by whether it protects life, intellect, dignity, property and future generations.
She also drew on the late sociologist Syed Hussein Alatas’s concept of the “captive mind”, which describes a tendency to imitate and accept ideas without sufficient critical examination.
“Let technology continue to advance, without our minds losing their independence,” she said.
Izzah said Malaysia should nurture a generation willing to question, build institutions capable of developing their own capabilities and strengthen the country’s confidence in its intellectual potential.
She ended her remarks with a call for young Malaysians to master technology while remaining guided by their faith.
“Let the children of Malaysia be masters of technology, and servants only to God,” she said. – October 9, 2026
