WHETHER we like it or not, artifical intelligence or AI is aleady here in our midst.

AI in fact is already affecting our lives in different ways– subtle or harsh.

Subtle when AI is not replacing one at work. Harsh when it does.

The fast-evolving world guarantees that AI will have bigger impacts in our society particularly to the labor sector. This corner just doesn’t know exactly when.

But the founding chair of the Internet Society – Philippine Chapter (ISPC) shares some wisdon on this matter.

While it’s rooted in truth that AI can potentially replace some Filipino workers, the threat is not imminent and will only affect people in certain jobs.

Winthrop Yu, founder and former chairman of ISPC, said apprehensions of an AI takeover of the workforce are exaggerated and borne out of an inadequate understanding of technology.

“Yes, it (AI) is coming along but we are still a long way from that (replacement of human workers). There is no need to panic,” he noted.

Yu said while AI development has seen significant inroads in the past decade, there are still major technical hurdles to making it a suitable replacement for people in the performance of certain jobs.

“The more creativity your job requires, the more nuanced your task is, the safer you are from being replaced. Do not take what you see in science fiction movies too seriously,” he said.

AI has been successfully applied in the writing of legal briefs and even news articles but Yu pointed out that the quality of the AI’s output is more akin “to an essay written by a grade school student.”

He said AI will steadily improve with time, and can eventually supplant many employees performing simple, repetitive jobs.

“Historically, when certain jobs are made obsolete by technology, new jobs are created to take their place. Although this may be of little consolation to those who will be affected, people will just have to upgrade their skills,” he said.

The Internet Society is a nonprofit advocacy organization based in Virginia, whose goal is “to promote the open development, evolution, and use of the Internet for the benefit of all people throughout the world.”

Meanwhile, Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) president Sergio Ortiz-Luis, Jr. told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) that the loss of jobs because of automation is nothing new.

He said even before the rise of AI, simple machines were already being used to replace people.

Ortiz-Luis said this reality should serve as an impetus to preserving existing jobs by avoiding policies that place too much financial burden on entrepreneurs.

“The government and the private sector must really find ways to create new jobs. If there are jobs to be lost, we must create new ones. People must concentrate on learning new skills to protect their place in the labor force,” he said.

Very well said.

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