PH urged to map workers powering AI growth

The Philippines needs more detailed labor-market data to identify workers who quietly power artificial intelligence systems and determine whether they receive adequate recognition, protection and compensation as the technology reshapes jobs, an international economist said.

Alexis Antoniades, a former professor at Georgetown University in Qatar, said conventional employment statistics may be too broad to capture how AI is changing the actual tasks Filipino workers perform within their occupations.

Better information on those tasks could help policymakers identify workers exposed to disruption, determine where new jobs are emerging and target training and labor protections before technological change leaves vulnerable groups behind.

“We need to have data where people work, what type of tasks they do, not just on their employment status,” Antoniades said during a roundtable discussion organized by the Department of Labor and Employment’s Institute for Labor Studies, or ILS, in partnership with the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, or PIDS.

The data gap is particularly important for workers who help build AI systems but may not be recognized as part of the technology industry.

Responding to a question about data workers, including image and video annotators and content moderators, Antoniades said people in the Global South perform much of the labor involved in preparing information used to train AI models.

“When we use AI and ask a question, we get an answer because the large language model was trained on data,” Antoniades said.

“There are two parts. One is, how do we identify those people? And then how do we probably recognize and reward those people?” Antoniades said.

Governments and international organizations such as the International Labour Organization could initially use labor surveys and administrative records to identify people working in the sector, he said.

“It’s the responsibility of organizations and governments to know who in their country is working [in the sector] and what they are doing,” he said.

The labor demand generated by AI also extends well beyond workers directly developing or training AI systems.

Antoniades pointed to the physical infrastructure required to support the technology, particularly data centers, which also need electricians, plumbers and other skilled workers.

The wider shift could create opportunities for the Philippines if its workforce can match emerging domestic and overseas demand.

Antoniades cited caregivers and nurses as occupations that could benefit from changing global labor requirements, allowing the Philippines to leverage its human capital in fields needed by other countries.

AI is also beginning to alter how employers assess potential workers, with demonstrated abilities potentially becoming more important than traditional academic credentials.

“The degree doesn’t have the benefit it had before,” Antoniades said.

He said workers who performed better were not necessarily those who came from the academic backgrounds employers might traditionally expect.

Instead, stronger performers could clearly explain the steps required to solve a problem and formulate effective prompts for an AI system.

The shift places greater pressure on governments, schools and employers to ensure workers can obtain practical AI skills rather than limiting access to those already positioned to benefit from the technology.

Antoniades said women deserve particular attention to prevent existing workforce gaps from widening as AI becomes more deeply embedded in employment.

“I think we have a responsibility to provide the right environment for women to receive training in AI…there is a unique opportunity,” he said.

For policymakers, Antoniades said the scale and speed of AI-driven change require cooperation among government, universities, research institutions, businesses and workers.

“We need partnerships among private sector, the government, research institutions, and academia,” he said.

He also warned against relying on legislation alone to govern a technology that is developing faster than conventional regulatory processes.

“Passing some laws will make no difference… it’s about educating companies and having checks and balances,” Antoniades said.

ILS Executive Director Jeanette T. Damo said discussions bringing researchers and policymakers together are important because labor research ultimately needs to translate into decisions that improve workers’ welfare.

“Research serves its highest purpose when it informs policy discussions, supports decision-making, and contributes to improving the lives of Filipino workers and their families,” Damo said.

PIDS President Dr. Philip Arnold P. Tuaño said the transformation of work poses questions that extend beyond employment figures and economic output.

“The questions we face today about work, skills, and employment are not simply economic questions — they are questions about the kind of society we want to build for Filipinos and the kind of future we want our workers to enter,” Tuaño said.

The roundtable was part of the 24th Development Policy Research Month, an annual initiative promoting discussion and dissemination of development research and its implications for policy and practice. (PIDS)