AI and more

Much has been said about the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping in the country last week. As expected, there were Filipinos who were for it; there were those against it.  Amid apprehensions and applauses, however, 29 documents – a mix of memoranda of understanding, letters, and commercial contracts – were signed by President Xi and President Rodrigo Duterte.

As we move forward, both these gloomy apprehensions and sunny expectations will certainly linger. Expect the ever-constant bickering among politicians in the country to escalate.  Therefore, there is no denying the fact that as they unceasingly trade barbs against each other, there shall be more significant developments that they (politicians) and the citizens of the country may overlook. These are developments that shall surely give us so much to ponder on and certainly affect us now and in the future.  In fact, probably, in some of these developments, we can get an idea or two from China.

For one, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) issued two years ago (October 2016) Policy Brief No. 50 entitled “Robots and Industrialization in the Developing Countries”.  Among others, it stressed that “increased use of robots in developed countries erodes traditional labor-cost advantage of developing countries.” Thus, it advised that “developing countries need to redesign education policies and embrace the digital revolution – this approach should be combined with supportive macroeconomic, industrial and social policies.”

Some developed countries have quickly embraced this development.  Their use of robots is slowly becoming prevalent.  For one, UNCTAD reported that each year, since 2013, “China has bought more industrial robots than any other country” and “is likely to overtake Japan as the world's biggest operator of industrial robots” by end of 2016. This is an attestation of robots’ growing popularity.

At the very least, we, the certified public accountants in the country, started addressing this concern last year in the 72nd Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants Annual National Convention held at the Philippine International Convention Center in Manila. Just last week in our 73rd convention in Bacolod City, same issues and concerns regarding artificial intelligence (AI) were tackled. The inevitability of going digital and the need for us to embrace it were both given prominence and significance.

Same as last year, this year’s convention, attended by generations cutting through the baby boomers to the millennials, successfully made us aware who we are.  Clearly, we, the baby boomers, have accepted that fact that in this digital age, we are just immigrants, the millennials the natives.  Therefore, it comes to them naturally.  On the other hand, for us, the immigrants, we need to learn more.

Indeed, the pace of change is remarkably fast. So that regardless of profession or occupation we are in, the need to embrace this development is paramount. We need to realize that in the coming years, intelligent systems will take all clerical and repetitious tasks from us, humans. We must further realize that these systems will even take over more and more decision-making tasks from us.

Clearly, there is a need to exploit these powerful technologies. How? By first understanding them. Just like any tool we can find in our households, we can’t use it if we do not understand how it works and what it can do. We don’t have to know how it is being made. We only need to know its distinctive characteristics and how it can help solve real and pressing problems.

Despite these developments, if one believes that there is no sense of urgency at all, then think about this:  One of the speakers in our 72nd convention presented to us a result of a study that revealed that most of the jobs or tasks we do today will no longer exist by 2030. Quite disturbing, isn’t it?

Admittedly, AI systems are already powerful today and are capable of improving quickly. They can surely surpass us in many aspects. If there is any consolation, it is the fact that we are human beings. That we are emotional beings. That AI systems can’t replicate that.

Therefore, what we essentially need to do now is to recognize the strengths and limits of both artificial intelligence and human intelligence, and find the best ways for humans and computers to work together.