AI Plus industry in the Phl

It was up close and personal to meet Convy and Convo for the first time. Convy is the 63-kilo robot humanoid while Convo, half its weight, is actually a robot dog. Both operated by artificial intelligence (AI), the two robotic figures appeared anew before media after the big welcome they gave to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) at the telco summit held last week. With its hand parts wearing black gloves, Convy shook hands with PBBM.

Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Henry Rhoel Aguda brought along Convy and Convo in our Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum last Wednesday. Courtesy of Converge that owns the two robots, Convy and Convo made special appearance as mascots for the DICT’s push promoting the “AI Plus” industry in the Philippines.

The two AI-run robots were actually being operated by human intelligence. A 29-year-old Filipino engineer, Jude Enrico Ascutia, was using a remote control behind the scene. Jude is the senior technical support engineer of Converge. Jude has been employed at Converge Information Communications Technology for more than six years now after he completed his ICT course at the University of Rizal System.

Jude described the two metal alloy-made robots as both equipped with closed-circuit television cameras (CCTV) for eyesight and can be commanded by voice or motion-activated.

But for safety concerns during Convy’s presentation in crowded public places, these were disabled. “The base model we presented was all under Unitree, but we have robots that we are currently developing and improving the AI,” Jude told us.

From Google search, Unitree Robotics “is a leading Chinese technology company established in 2016 that specializes in developing high-performance, cost-effective quadruped (robot dogs) and humanoid robots. Known for pioneering affordable consumer-grade robots, they produce advanced machines for research, industrial inspection and education, including the Go2, H1 and G1 models.”

Aguda insisted there is no reason to fear the fast-growing developments ushered in by AI technology. Other than its metallic look, who will be scared of Convy that stood barely four feet tall?

Other than doing dog tricks, Aguda told us the robot dog can be tapped for rescue mission in locating victims of calamities like flood and other disaster incidents.

At the outset, Aguda traced the initial impact of the adoption of AI technology to our country’s labor-intensive business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. He reminded us when BPOs started to modernize through adoption of automation, many in the industry feared that call center jobs would disappear. “People thought that automation would wipe out their jobs and that no one would need call centers anymore,” he mused. But instead of shrinking, however, the industry further grew and expanded, Aguda stressed.

He recalled the humble beginnings of the BPO industry as “call centers” in our country, where Filipino workers handled customer service calls from around the world, mostly in the United States and European countries. Filipinos who are known as generally good in speaking English and their ability to adapt to different accents – especially British and American accents – helped strengthen the country’s reputation in the global outsourcing market, Aguda proudly pointed out. At that time, he estimated, there were about one million call center workers all over our country.

Aguda cited the Philippine BPO industry now employs around 2.1 million workers, recorded growth because companies adopted AI and automation early. “Because they were early adopters of AI and processing automation, the workforce increased by around four percent, or about 80,000 additional jobs. Their revenues also grew by five percent, faster than the global average and even faster than India,” he added.

The Philippine BPO industry is a prime example where new “high value jobs” are being generated in various industries that have adopted AI innovations and other development of new technologies. While some customer service operations were automated, he explained, many back-office functions such as legal work, research, accounting and human resources services were transferred to the Philippines. Even foreign HRD, or human resource development systems, and other administrative work are now being handled by Filipinos in the background, he added.

As far as the Philippines is concerned, Aguda noted, all eyes are looking at the potential development of an “AI Plus” industry in our country at a faster pace, if not ahead of the current pivot of global companies to adopt AI in their systems.

Instead of fearing AI, Aguda echoed the government’s calls encouraging workers and companies to embrace it.

“As the President said: ‘Tech for good,’ we need to translate this to the people. It’s (AI technology) a tool,” the DICT chief quoted PBBM’s guidance.

“Any technology can generate good or bad effects, just like social media. That’s why we need guardrails. We need to keep eyes on these tools and be progressive on these. If we do this, malayo mararating natin,” Aguda reassured the public. With continued investment in technology and human capital, the DICT chief is optimistic that the emerging AI Plus industry will remain a major source of jobs and revenue for the country in the years ahead.

Aguda disclosed the Philippine government, led by the DICT and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), will jointly invest P750 million for training and upskilling programs aimed at preparing BPO workers for AI-assisted operations. “Instead of being afraid of AI, the President said we should invest in AI and upskill our people,” Aguda quoted the presidential directives.

In fact, he announced one of the biggest robot-makers in China will be sending their team to the Philippines to assess the possible locating of an AI robot training hub at the Clark Special Economic Zone in Angeles City, Pampanga. “They need their robots to be trained. AI brains need tutors,” he explained.

The latest AI applications to robots will further introduce new innovations in business processes. In the future, Aguda sees the sector may no longer be called simply the BPO industry but an “AI Plus” industry as more companies integrate AI technology into their operations.