PH must rethink worker preparation amid AI use — experts

Experts called on companies in the country to rethink preparing workers to cope with the rising artificial intelligence (AI) adoption and overseas migration.

Brookings Institution Non-resident Senior Fellow Elizabeth King said the Philippines has invested in jobs that are vulnerable to AI automation.

"The jobs that are most vulnerable to artificial intelligence are exactly the jobs we have been investing in, which [are] clerical support jobs,” she said during the 12th Annual Public Policy Conference (APPC) of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) last September 24.

King added that AI adoption is hampered by unequal internet access as —17% of the population cannot afford basic internet.

She also noted the lack of workers with the foundational cognitive skills needed to complement AI.

“It may be the capacity to generate enough workers with foundational cognitive skills required to complement AI," said King.

Moreover, King said that building a capable workforce for the year 2040 requires immediate investment in early childhood nutrition and health, or the first 1,000 days of life.

“Stunting delays entry to school. It hurts achievement in school, completion [of] basic education, and so forth and so on,” she said.

Meanwhile, University of the Philippines School of Economics associate professor Renato Reside Jr. emphasized that the Philippines must address its long-standing inability to retain skilled workers and generate sufficient domestic demand.

“I think it is time for the Philippines to take a hard look at, as Dr. King would say, implementation,” he said.

While remittances remain necessary in the near term, decreasing long-term dependence requires structural economic reforms, said Reside.

Further, Reside said the government must fix the budget process by shifting funds away from wasteful spending on high-productivity, competitive sector like the electric vehicle industry, and domestic mineral processing.

“Fix the budget process, realign away from wasteful spending to productive spending,” he said.

The IBM Philippines previously said that that while artificial intelligence (AI) will not completely replace humans in the workplace, people should improve their skills in light of the rapidly evolving technology.

The tech firm said then that the rise of generative AI has created new roles that require upgraded skills. — BAP, GMA News