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Current Affairs

Most Singaporeans ready to let AI agents shop for them with more safeguards: study

Singaporeans are among the most open to allowing an artificial intelligence agent to shop for them, but they also want the strictest guard rails, research…

By Samantha Johnson / September 23, 2026
Singaporeans are among the most open to allowing an artificial intelligence agent to shop for them, but they also want the strictest guard rails, research shows.

The latest agentic AI study from Global Payments released on Wednesday indicates the hoops agentic AI will need to jump through to be trusted to make purchases without human intervention.

The study, which surveyed seven countries including the United States, China and the United Kingdom, found 59 per cent of Singaporeans are open to an agent shopping for them while 23 per cent have already used one. Only 15 per cent say they would let an agent shop, shortlist and pay entirely on its own.

Payment companies and AI start-ups are working towards a digital future where people will authorise agents to make all sorts of purchases on their behalf. The survey results point to the gap between curiosity about agentic AI for personal commerce – everything from switching insurance policies to designing travel itineraries – and comfort in letting an agent do more than browse and recommend.

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