Probe on effects of AI on BPO jobs set

The Senate committee on science and technology is set to probe the potential threats of artificial intelligence (AI) to thousands of jobs available in the Philippines.

Sen. Paolo ‘Bam’ Aquino IV, chairman of the said panel, said it is imperative that the government is aware of the trends that may take away employment opportunities for unemployed Filipinos.

“Every job created for Filipinos is important. We have to guard against trends that will take jobs away from our countrymen,” Aquino said.

The committee hearing has been scheduled on Tuesday, August 1.

“We want to know exactly how AI will affect employment, especially to our business process outsourcing (BPO) or call center sectors,” Aquino said.

Aquino earlier filed Senate Resolution No. 344, to conduct an inquiry on the government’s plan and initiatives to maximize the benefits of developments in AI and other emerging technologies as he expressed alarm over the growing presence of Chatbots and the emergence of systems capable of referring questions to human operators and learning from their responses.

“These systems use artificial intelligence and are capable of performing the tasks of human employees, putting their livelihood at risk, especially in the call center industry,” the senator said.

In 2016, the International Labor Organization (ILO) reported that 49 percent of all employment in the Philippines faces a high risk of automation in the next couple of decades.

In its research, International Data Corporation (IDC) said around $47-billion will be spent on AI-related applications globally by 2020, especially in banking, healthcare and retail sectors.

Jubert Daniel Alberto of IDC Philippines said this rise of AI innovations would definitely affect the BPO industry that currently employs around 1.2 million Filipinos.