The Philippines’ adoption to artificial intelligence (AI) is dragged by scant spending in AI solutions as well as in research and development.
Citing data from Kearney, Rafaelita Aldaba, undersecretary of the Department of Trade and Industry in a forum said Asean lags behind advanced countries in terms of investment in AI solutions.
But in Asean, investments in the Philippines are at less than 1 US cent per capita, the lowest in Asean.
Aldaba said one of the challenges faced by the Philippines is its gross expenditure in R&D remains way below the United Nations- recommended 1 percent of GDP at 0.16 percent, the second to the lowest in Asean and way below the region’s average spending of 0.76 percent.
According to Aldaba, the Philippines also needs to catch up in internet speed and quality by allowing more competition and substantially increasing investments in digital infrastructure.
A survey conducted in Southeast Asia showed 80 percent of the respondents in the Philippines said they are in the early stages of AI adoption, slightly below the 83 percent respondents in the region that said they are also in the initial phase of AI adoption.
Kearney also said AI could have large economic impact, unleashing about $92 billion US dollars to the Philippines’ GDP and $1 trillion to the region’s GDP by 2030.
Aldaba said currently, there are over Filipino tech startups that are using AI as the core technology of their business model.
She cited EMS, an electronics firm, which invested in a smart factory. It reduced its workers by 90 percent in one production line but its output increased by 100 percent; engineering and computer science staff increased by 200 percent and profitability went up between 10 and 20 percent.
Aldaba said while AI can pose threats to the workforce with agriculture, retail and manufacturing most at risk of shedding jobs, the EMS experience goes to show there are technologies that can be adopted are labor-augmenting rather than labor-replacing. – Irma Isip
