Since the creation of artificial intelligence (AI) in the 1950s, humans have adopted the technology. In fact, AI does the work when you use Google to search or look for recommendations on what to watch on Netflix or YouTube.
However, after its rapid growth due to access to large amounts of data or “big data” a few years ago, large language models, a type of generative AI, such as ChatGPT, became popular for making tasks easier by generating text and content.
Since then, AI has always been subjected to scrutiny on whether it is good or bad for economic development.
This powerful technology, which is defined by McKinsey and Company as “a machine’s ability to perform the cognitive functions we associate with human minds, such as perceiving, reasoning, learning, interacting with an environment, problem-solving, and even exercising creativity,” has impacted the operation of industries, companies and businesses.
Studies have found that adopting AI, which is seen to progress given its accessibility, will definitely improve and bring efficiency to the workplace. However, it is feared that it may lead to job reduction as smart machines may be preferred over humans.
According to LinkedIn’s 2024 workplace trends survey, 55 percent of the Philippine workforce already use generative AI. The data also showed that seven out of 10 Filipinos believe their jobs will change because of AI.
During the Department of Science and Technology-National Research Council of the Philippines (DOST-NRCP) Annual (DOST-NRCP) Annual Scientific Conference and 91st General Membership Assembly, themed “Artificial Intelligence for Responsive Transdisciplinary Research toward Sustainable Scientific Future” on March 12, Filipino scientists weighed the impact of AI on whether it could lead to job losses and unemployment in a developing country like the Philippines, among other topics.
‘AI will create more jobs’
De La Salle University Business Ethics Professor Dr. Benjamin L. Teehankee told the BusinessMirror that AI can generate more jobs if the government and businesses set a strategic goal to use AI to augment human productivity.
“It can end up increasing the volume of businesses and therefore, [create] more jobs,” Teehankee said at the sidelines of the DOST-NRCP event.
However, AI in the workplace without any government policy or guidance, and without the private sector having a vision, will only push for efficiency, thus, lead to job losses, Teehankee warned.
On the bright side, he said if AI is coupled with human productivity for the common good, it could prevent job replacement.
He added that the national government needs to create more jobs to increase the quality of life to grow the economy and the middle class.
“Instead of a 5.6 percent GDP, or even 6 precent or 7 percent [GDP], we need to achieve growths of 8 percent every year,” he said, added that there is need to recognize the use of modern technology for this to be realized.
Even the top official of the country’s socioeconomic planning body is open to taking advantage of AI as a tool that enhances productivity rather than seeing it as a thing that will replace a person in the job.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, however, cautioned that employers may prefer automation, which may potentially lead to unemployment, now that the looming nationwide wage hike also poses a threat.
“The problem is you will just accelerate automation. The sharp increase in wages would incentivize firms to automate,” Balisacan added. (Related story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2024/03/15/use-of-ai-inevitable-for-phl-best-to-prepare-neda/)
Reskilling, retooling
The experts discussed the concerns on AI at the event’s news conference.
University of the Philippines Prof. Christine D. Villagonzalo said job losses due to AI are unlikely but pressed for the need to “level up” Filipino workers.
“All the data that you feed to AI has to be validated. So someone has to check, there has to be someone that will input the data, someone has to check if the [data] is right,” Villagonzalo said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Meanwhile, Social Sciences Prof. Maria Ana T. Quimbo pointed out that job displacements occurred because of AI.
Quimbo also cited a study by McKinsey and Company that revealed between 400 million and 800 million individuals could be displaced by automation and need to find new jobs by 2030 around the world.
Quimbo said this implies that soft skills can still never be replaced by AI, such as perseverance, self-efficacy, empathy, and being able to relate with peers and colleagues.
Director Jeremaiah M. Opiniano of the University of Santo Tomas-Research Center for Social Sciences and Education said the impact of AI on jobs will depend on the level of technological advancement of the country.
Opiniano posed that the challenge for the Philippines, specifically for the education sector, is to upskill the way of teaching and to see the interdisciplinary relations, whether other disciplines where soft skills are needed see AI impacting jobs.
“Of course, we shouldn’t let AI lead to massive job displacement given the level of technological advancement in the Philippines, but we also hope to see the day that AI complements what human workers do, and then the soft skills will come eventually,” Opiniano said.
Teehankee said that he always tells his students to differentiate themselves from a chatbot while also showing that they have a mastery of using a chatbot, as he pushed for augmentation rather than job replacement.
‘AI must be regulated’
Teehankee also raised the need for the regulation of the growing technology, citing his worry that when AI is left unsupervised, it could cause chaos instead of becoming helpful.
In 2017, Sen. Bam Aquino urged to conduct an inquiry into the government’s plan to address the negative impact of AI on employment.
Last year, Sen. Imee Marcos filed Senate Resolution 591 to call for an inquiry into the effects of AI on business process outsourcing (BPO) and original equipment manufacturing in the country.
The resolution called on the Departments of Information and Communications Technology, and of Trade and Industry to take measures that will support Filipino workers to “keep pace with the rapid advancements in AI.”
The DOST in its AI Roadmap said an upskilling program approach will be essential for workers in the IT-BPO industry since they are facing risks of losing their jobs because of process automation.
“Partnership with technology companies and universities offering AI courses are recommended for the training for AI. The government can offer scholarship programs to attract workers to participate in the upskilling program in exchange for applying the skills that they acquire from the program to Filipino companies,” it added.
DOST also said it must participate in national policy initiatives, such as the execution of DICT’s National Cybersecurity Plan 2022, which includes the updating of policies on protecting digitized transactions and electronic documents.
A framework for data security and management has to be established to help both researchers and industry adopters produce more accurate results from AI algorithms, the DOST added.
Awardees
The DOST-NRCP event awarded experts in their respective fields.
They were Dr. Victor B. Asio in agriculture and forestry; Dr. Inocencio E. Buot Jr. in biological sciences; Dr. Arvin Earvin S. Choi in engineering and industrial research; Dr. Remil L. Galay in veterinary medicine; Dr. Reynaldo L. Garcia in medical science; Dr. Maria Ana T. Quimbo in social s sciences; Dr. Mario Tan in chemical sciences; and Dr. Christine D. Villagonzalo in physics.
Image credits: DOST-NRCP PHOTO