Filipinos expect data leaks, job losses from AI

Majority of Filipinos expect more online data leaks and growing artificial intelligence (AI) adoption to affect their jobs this year, according to global market research company Ipsos.

It also found that Filipinos expect decreased use of social media platforms this year.

The Ipsos Global Advisor 2024 Predictions survey showed the Philippines was one of the top countries with these expectations, with the share of respondents agreeing with these three categories at about 11% above the global average.

The company surveyed 34 countries through its online platform, with 1,000 respondents coming from the Philippines.

The report showed that 64% of Filipino respondents believe their personal data could be leaked on the Internet, higher than the global average of 55%.

The Philippines was the second most attacked country by web threats in 2022, with 39,387,052 internet-borne threats detected, according to data from Kaspersky. It recorded 24,737 crypto-phishing cases, 15,732 mobile malware cases, and 50 mobile banking Trojan cases in 2022.

Sam Jacoba, founding president of the National Association of Data Protection Officers of the Philippines, likewise expects more incidents of cyberattacks this year.

“The government, private sector, and communities of practice have to be more vigilant,” he told BusinessWorld in an interview. “Do not let up in awareness, education, training, certification, and consistent hardening of critical infrastructure.”

Meanwhile, AI continued to affect the livelihood expectations of Filipinos, with 73% of respondents believing that growing adoption of the technology will likely lead to job losses versus the global average of 64%.

Some 48% of Filipinos said AI is unlikely to help create new jobs, above the 44% global average.

Data and analytics firm GlobalData said generative AI job posts spiked in the third quarter of last year amid competition in the digital landscape, with medium- and long-term talent plans in development for adaptability.

Analytics from the employment-focused social media platform LinkedIn also showed a 2.4 times increase in job posts mentioning AI in Southeast Asian markets from three years ago, with a 1.7 times growth in applications versus those that do not mention it.

It observed that 76% of Filipino professionals expect a significant change in their jobs driven by AI, with 55% already using generative AI, citing efficiency and productivity benefits.

Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis, Jr., president of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines, told BusinessWorld that the labor force must recognize and adapt to both challenges and opportunities presented by technological advancements.

“Job seekers and employees need to adapt to maintain their availability for the job market,” he said. “Know what areas they can skill themselves in.”

Meanwhile, 56% of Filipinos expect to use social media less this year, higher than the 41% global average.

Source: Business World

AI may help boost PHL economy by $90 billion

The Philippines should take advantage of the opportunities presented by artificial intelligence (AI), which has the potential to contribute as much as $90 billion to the economy in the next seven years, a Microsoft Corp. executive said.

“The possibilities that AI present the Philippines are many and exciting. According to the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) predictions, it will be contributing as much as $90 billion to the country’s economy by 2030,” Peter Maquera, Microsoft Asia Pacific chief executive officer for Philippines, said.

Microsoft invested in OpenAI, which developed ChatGPT — a generative AI technology.

Mr. Maquera said the tech giant will release a study on AI’s impact on the Philippines next week.

“The spoiler for you is we think it’s a 20% uplift on our economy if we are all going to work together and leverage this capability,” he added.

Mr. Maquera said some of the potential business involving AI includes content generation, summarization, code generation, and semantic research.

“This technology is alive today and so too are the potential benefits we can already attain. Microsoft is committed to helping the Philippines realize this potential for organizations and individuals to drive greater and more inclusive economic prosperity for all,” he said.

Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan John E. Uy said the evolving technology is shaping the way companies do business, adding that organizations should be open to using information technology (IT) in their operations.

“Technology is here to stay no matter what, and it will keep on improving. This is why organizations would have to embrace and include IT in their operations and planning, or they will risk getting left behind by their competitors,” Mr. Uy said in his keynote speech at the forum.

Riccardo Puliti, International Finance Corp. regional vice-president for Asia and the Pacific, said the Philippines is on the right track in terms of its digitalization efforts.

“The government has prioritized digitalization and financial inclusion in its policy agenda. Digital payments are widely encouraged and are now mandatory for vendors to government agencies,” Mr. Puliti said in a recorded speech.

“The pandemic underscored how digital connectivity can be essential for access to good quality education, healthcare, daily work, and essential public services,” he added.

Meanwhile, McDonald’s Philippines Managing Director Margot Torres said companies’ digitalization efforts should focus on improving the customer experience.

“No matter how groundbreaking your technology is, if your employees and consumers cannot adopt it, it will only remain an idea,” she said.

Bain & Company Partner Yukiko Tsukamoto said companies should know their customers by collecting the right data.

“You need to know about your customer. Then you change how your organization works. A lot of conventional companies work up to the fact that the way they were doing things wasn’t working anymore,” Ms. Tsukamoto said.

“Change is really difficult, but I’ve seen companies do it well,” she added.

In his welcome remarks, BusinessWorld President and Chief Executive Officer Miguel G. Belmonte said digital technology could help improve struggling sectors and address key issues hampering the country’s development.

“Digital technology can play a role in revitalizing long struggling industries such as agriculture and address critical concerns such as food security, transportation, and logistics. The potential is there for the Philippines to utilize these technologies to not only drive business but make Filipino lives better,” he said.

Integrating sustainability with digital transformation strategies is now the “name of the game” for companies, he added.

“Digital technologies are increasingly crucial in creating a more efficient, productive, and sustainable future due to their capacity to help companies accomplish and meet demands while also reducing energy costs and the company’s carbon footprint,” he added.

Source: Business World

AI to unlock PH output potential

Global public policy consultancy Access Partnership released a study which states that generative artificial intelligence* (AI) will unlock a potential of $79.3 billion worth of production in the Philippines.

"We expected to have effects across work activities and groups of industries. In the Philippines, we see that it will unlock significant productive capacity," said Access Partnership Director of Economic Strategy Marcus Ng in the recorded version of the event released by the Makati Business Club on June 2.

The study, titled "The Economic Impact of Generative AI: The Future of Work in the Philippines," stated that generative AI will unlock a big potential in the Philippines.

Ng stated that the work activities in the Philippines could be transformed by generative AI. The industries that would be affected are wholesale and retail trade; agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing; construction, manufacturing and transport services.

"The potential of generative AI could transform the work experience for local workers. If we adopted generative AI economy wide, the wholesale and retail trade, and agriculture sector, who are among the largest employers in the Philippines economy, would see a large number of their workers who are potentially new, potentially burdensome and potentially more effective work experiences," he said.

However, this would entail upskilling the workforce, focusing on critical-thinking, reading and writing as key parts to input-and-output equation.

Micr_GenAI_-Philippines_FINAL_230529

.pdf

Download PDF • 14.21MB

*Generative artificial intelligence or generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence (AI) system capable of generating text, images, or other media in response to prompts. Generative AI models learn the patterns and structure of their input training data, and then generate new data that has similar characteristics.

Source: Manila Times