MANILA — The Department of Trade and Industry admits the Philippines is lagging behind in terms of the use of more advanced technologies in doing business.

Trade Secretary Cristina Roque said this at the sidelines of the agency’s turnover of 10 high-powered computers to the Department of Education that it will use for the Center of Artificial Intelligence Research (CAIR).

“In truth yes, we are lagging behind. That’s why we really need to push for this. Definitely we will use AI to be able to drive businesses. Tuturuan namin yung mga MSME paano gamitin ang AI para ma-drive ang businesses nila kasi we area really in a digital and technology-driven world,” she said.

The trade chief, however, says that using advanced technology will not cut jobs but instead increase the productivity of workers in various fields.

“The employees are really going to now use their skills. Hindi na yung FAQs, paulit-ulit, redundant questions. It’s going to be used now to really drive to grow. Kasi sometimes we cannot grow kasi we’re stuck if we’re doing the same thing over and over again. Sometimes advancements slow down because we don’t use technology. ”

DepEd, for its part, recognizes the need for AI to streamline and solve systemic processes in the education sector. The technology, according to Education Secretary Sonny Angara says, will process large amounts of data to guide decision making on various fronts.

“May mine-measure lang sila sa mga batang sukatan, eh alam na nila kung tending to be stunted o malnourished yung bata. That usually takes for the teacher to do manually. Pero sa AI may mga models na sila.”

Angara adds that it can guide students towards enrolling in schools with closer proximity and aid in solving the problem of congestion.

“Secondly, yung mga overcrowded schools natin. Merong minamatch sila na saang pwedeng pumuntang private schools for instance. So pag inutusan mo ang AI na hanapin yung mga schools within a certain radius, saan pwedeng maglakad ang bata, ayun hahanapin niya. To decongest our schools.”

The education chief however admits that much is needed to be done to capacitate teachers in using AI. Among the challenges is ensuring that each teacher has access to a computer.

“You need computers, you need to ensure teachers are trained how to use AI. Our goal first is to get laptops to all our teachers. Kasi kung hindi nila kabisado ang AI tools, hindi nila matuturo. So we’re talking 800k and we’re pushing for a PPP for it,” he said.

Both the DepEd and DTI believe in the importance of using AI technology at a young age to drive industries by the time they themselves become manpower.

Used ethically, they say that young individuals will actually become more productive citizens and critical thinkers as AI can aid in exercising better understanding, analysis and appreciation of various subjects.