Artificial Intelligence and Its Effect in the BPO Industry
When President Rodrigo Roa Duterte took the helms of the government and decided to deviate from the US government, there was already an outcry from the Amboys and Amgirls who are so subservient to the Americans. They are crying foul claiming that the outsourcing industry will die a natural death and the green bucks will no longer flood the Philippines. This was also the same scenario when US President Donald Trump bowed to bring all jobs back to his countrymen and end outsourcing. That announcement alone sent jitters to those who work in the BPO industry in the Philippines.
Looming Threat Posed by AI
Now, another concern is on the rise due to the warning from a US-based Filipino guru, Diosdado Banatao. About the looming threat posed by AI or Artificial Intelligence in the BPO industry, Diosdado claims that US experts predict that the BPO might be hit hard. All repetitive tasks done by call center agents will now be performed by AI which is the reason why Banatao is prodding the government to put on a significant undertaking on AI in order to help the BPO industry to cushion or avoid its negative impact.
The Department of Science and Technology under Secretary Fortunato T. Dela Pena claims the department embarked on various initiatives and made an action plan on this emerging technology.
The concern about AI and robotics had come to the fore due to a spat between two biggies, Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX and Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook co-founder. There had been a healthy debate as to the doom or boom of AI and its impact on society, to jobs and the global economy. Scholars had predicted that in a decade or two, AI will take over and automate about 47% of jobs in the US. So, the question now is, “How soon will robots replace most jobs like call center agents, factory workers, and bank tellers?”, and “Will other countries be prepared to face the impact of this technology on employment?”.
Jobs Will Be Affected
The Contact Center Association of the Philippines or CCAP President, Mr. Jojo Uligan accepts that there will be jobs affected. But those are the provided services in the past like the obsolete job of directory assistance service where clients ask for phone numbers. Hence, machines can take over for this position. Some services will go but other services will remain to assist clients, wherein the industry banks on the importance of human interaction since people prefer to hear a human voice, not machines or robots no matter how intelligent they are.
A client verifies if the one on the other end of the phone is a robot or a machine. Well, a slight laugh and a denial confirm that indeed the one who’s talking on the other line is human and trained to answer clients’ concerns.
The BPO industry in the Philippines has the right to be confident about its place since a road map has been already in place to upgrade skills of local BPO workers in order to handle jobs that hadn’t been done before. The thrust of the industry and CCAP is to understand the AI technology, know the services that can be provided to stay relevant and protect everyone that works in the industry.
