TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Artificial intelligence can help address labor shortages in a super-aged society by reshaping tasks rather than replacing workers outright, National Development Council Minister Yeh Chun-hsien (葉俊顯) said Tuesday.
Yeh said at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum that Taiwan views AI as a critical response to declining birth rates and a rapidly aging population. He pointed to applications such as AI-assisted medical diagnostics, smart long-term care, senior reemployment, and mobility technologies to improve quality of life while easing workforce gaps, per CNA.
Yeh warned that while AI could boost wages in some sectors, it may also widen skill disparities across the labor market. Governments must strengthen workplace governance and expand forward-looking retraining systems, he said, emphasizing that AI will transform job tasks rather than eliminate human roles entirely, per UDN.
The government will also support small and medium-sized enterprises in digital transformation under a “leave no one behind” approach, Yeh said. Policies aim to ensure women, youth, seniors, and people with disabilities can all benefit from AI-driven growth, framing AI as people-oriented social infrastructure, per UDN.
To capture opportunities from AI, Taiwan is promoting a “new top 10 AI infrastructure projects” initiative spanning sovereign computing capacity, quantum technology, robotics, and smart healthcare. The effort seeks to move Taiwan beyond its role as a global hardware supplier toward becoming a provider of integrated AI solutions and a trusted regional partner in computing and technology, per the Economic Daily News.
Yeh said the government is building a comprehensive AI talent ecosystem, starting with foundational education in schools and extending through industry-academia collaboration. Subsidies and tailored training programs will help workers and small businesses overcome digital barriers while cultivating cross-disciplinary talent to accelerate AI adoption across industries, per the Economic Daily News.
