Members of the press are given a walking tour of the Ubisoft Philippines state-of-the-art studio, at the their headquarters The Finance Centre, in Bonifacio Global City, (BGC) Taguig City, June 21, 2024. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

MANILA — Sen. Joel Villanueva on Wednesday urged the government to speed up the crafting of a strategy to prevent a potentially catastrophic impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the Philippines' labor market.

• Philippines must be part of the AI revolution, Marcos says

"We welcome new technology to make work life easy and lift productivity, but this requires DOLE and other agencies to work double time to make our workforce technically adept and equipped. Otherwise, we would just be counting job losses,” said Villanueva, chairperson of the Senate's labor panel.

• AI boom is a moment of upskilling: BPI exec

Villanueva specifically called on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) to lead the way in strategizing the government's AI roadmap. 

"Our government agencies must develop a cohesive plan to manage the integration of new technologies into the labor market. The goal is to make sure that humans and machines can create better results when working together," the senator said.

• Philippines to be 'big winner' in AI revolution: Freelancer platform

A Microsoft-led study released in May noted that the Philippines leads the world in terms of knowledge workers adopting generative AI, with 86 percent of them using AI at work. This is higher than the global average of 75 percent and the regional average of 83 percent.

• PH leads world in workers using AI: Microsoft Philippines

However, the Microsoft study also found that Philippine companies were not as quick to adopt the technology, leading around 83 percent of Filipino AI users to bring their own AI to work.

• Google shows off generative AI productivity, cybersecurity tools

Villanueva has filed Senate Resolution No. 990 seeking to conduct an inquiry into the "preparedness of the government to address the impact of artificial intelligence on the local labor market and the future of work."

"The global push for digitalization and the widespread use of Al in all industries necessitates the need for an examination of the government’s programs and projects to prepare the country’s workforce to fully embrace the challenges of Al," the resolution read.

In March, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. said the Philippines must act swiftly to embrace AI, as he noted its potential to uplift the lives of Filipinos.

• Philippines 'embracing' future of artificial intelligence: Marcos

RELATED VIDEO