Policy Landscape

In the realm of public policy, the high-speed diffusion of AI innovations triggered public and private sectors to also push for governance frameworks that balance AI innovation and responsible AI adoption. Globally, countries like the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), Japan, and European Union (EU) members, have been at the forefront of taking steps to institutionalize a global consensus on responsible AI.

Consistent with the country’s AI roadmap, the Philippines joined in 2021 the 192 Member States of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in adopting the Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, which recognizes universal principles in AI adoption and recommends policy actions in critical areas with respect to data governance, environment, gender, and research, among many other spheres (UNESCO, 2021).

Following the first roadmap’s recommendation to create an ‘AI conscience’, the DTI published the pioneering Developing an AI Governance Framework for the Philippines report in 2022, that identifies the elements of a national AI governance framework that the country should consider. This is further discussed in Section 3.4.

Citing the country’s AI roadmap, the University of the Philippines (UP) likewise formed in 2023 the UP AI Advancement Committee (AIAC), which was tasked to discuss the benefits and concerns associated with using AI, and prepare university issuances to operationalize the development and use of responsible and trustworthy AI (University of the Philippines, n.d.).

In the private sector, the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), one of the country’s biggest business groups, established an AI Council to partner and collaborate with government, the academe, and organizations to upskill talent in the areas of programming, data science and analytics, and data and AI ethics (Dagooc, 2023).

More recently, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) launched the ASEAN Guide on AI Governance and Ethics in 2024, which fosters the alignment and interoperability of AI frameworks across ASEAN, and recommending national- and regional-level initiatives to design, develop, and deploy AI systems responsibly.

To promote responsible AI in government, the Philippine Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the Civil Service Commission (CSC) are also set to issue in 2024 a Circular on the Principles and Guidelines for an Ethical and Trustworthy Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Government.