AI MAY NOT TAKE OUR JOBS AFTER ALL

JUST LOOK AT THE PHILIPPINESc

-  LIONEL LIM

WHILE MUCH OF THE WORLD was thrilled by the 2022 release of ChatGPT, and with it the dawning of a new era of technology, the reaction in the Philippines was closer to fear.

Consultancy firms and banks warned that generative AI, which can process human language, could be upgraded to the point where humans are automated out of work. One Goldman Sachs report in March 2023 said 300 million jobs could be exposed to automation.

About 46% of those are office and administrative jobs like customer service.

Millions of these jobs are found in developing economies in Southeast Asia like that of the Philippines, which means AI development could end up derailing economic growth.

But more than two years after ChatGPT made its debut, generative AI developments have not yet produced the feared doomsday scenario. There have been job losses, but the industry still depends on its human workers, and at this point AI is just another tool companies use to augment their capabilities.

Renz Miguel Marquez, a 29-year-old call center trainer in Makati City in the Philippines, uses AI tools to streamline his workflow. The call center where he works caters to broadband service transactions for a U.S.-based company.

Marquez says his call center introduced an "agent assist" about two years ago that listens to the conversation and helps agents collate information that could be useful to help resolve issues. That tool has helped speed up resolutions, giving agents more time to pitch and sell services or products to customers who call in.