Press Release - Senator Mark Villar Commends President BBM For Essential AI Partnerships, Urges Development of AI Framework

Senator Mark Villar commends President Bongbong Marcos for leading the Philippine government's efforts in securing partnerships on artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity from Silicon Valley companies. He notes, however, that the Philippines has a lot of work to do for the adoption of AI as no other measure or action has been made for its regulation or development except for the 2019 Philippine AI Roadmap.

"Marami na pong developments with AI in the past four years since the 2019 Roadmap. It has since boomed into heightened use across different sectors. Panahon na po na magkaroon na tayo ng framework regulating the use and development of AI para sa kapakanan ng mga empleyado ng mga industriya na gumagamit ng AI," Senator Mark said.

In line with this, Senator Mark filed Senate Resolution No. 588, directing the proper Senate committee to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, on the emerging use of artificial intelligence in different sectors and/or industries, and for the establishment of a framework related to the adoption, promotion, development, and fair use of AI in the Philippines.

"As the Philippines embraces the use of AI in various day-to-day activities, a substantial part of this technology still remains unchartered. Wala pa po tayong idea how to properly approach AI in terms of the regulation of its use. With this resolution, we are hoping that the Senate inquiry will bring light to information about AI that we can use to build a legal framework," Senator Mark added.

As Senator Mark looks forward to the success of the partnership, he also hopes to look into the impact of AI on the daily lives of Filipinos as he recognizes both the risks and opportunities brought by AI technology. He emphasized that while AI has the potential to augment human capabilities, increase efficiency and accuracy, and eliminate manual labor, the technology also possesses the possibility of job displacement, widening of income inequalities, as well as the exacerbation of biases.

"Hindi lamang po ang pagkakaroon ng legal framework ang ating titingnan. We will also look into how it affects the daily lives of Filipinos. Does AI widen the unemployment of our countrymen?