THE Philippine government must establish a European Union (EU)-like regulatory agency that would ensure the ethical and safe use of artificial intelligence (AI), according to the International Business Machines (IBM) Corp.
“There should also be compliance with regards to what data is allowed to be trained with the AI,” Gerando Louis Bonganay, artificial intelligence architect at IBM Philippines, told reporters on the sidelines of the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines and San Miguel Corp.’s annual business journalism seminar on April 5.
The European Artificial Intelligence Board was established in 2024 under the EU AI Act, the first-ever legal framework on AI use.
The AI Board serves as the region’s key advisory body that assists and offers advice on how institutions can comply with the AI Act, according to the EU’s website.
Mr. Bonganay also cited the region’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which provides guidelines for the collection and processing of personal information from individuals living within and outside the EU.
“Net of it all, data is still the starting point of AI,” Mr. Bonganay said. “Whatever you input [to train] the AI tool is still your data.”
Meanwhile, companies using open-source AI must establish a compliance group that ensures only the appropriate data is being used in their AI tools, he said.
“If they want to protect their data, they should start first with cleaning up what they have in-house,” Mr. Bonganay said in mixed English and Filipino.
“So, if they see information that should not be included in AI, there should be a compliance group that does all the audits.”
DeepSeek AI, a Chinese startup developing open-source large language models, has been banned in countries like Taiwan, Australia, and South Korea due to data privacy and national security concerns.
Around 61% of information technology (IT) decision-makers globally use open-source ecosystems to source their AI tools, according to a 2024 study commissioned by IBM. It also noted a similar increase in Asia-Pacific countries like Indonesia (73%) and South Korea (73%).
Mr. Bonganay also called on the need for workers to upskill so they can intervene with their AI tools.
The Philippines’ AI industry is projected to have a market size of $3.5 billion by 2030, according to German data and business intelligence platform Statista. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz
