'I feel like I dug my own grave': The workers caught in the AI transition

BySuranjana Tewari

Asia Business Correspondent, Reporting fromManila

For 15 years, azygous parent Lisa made a surviving from contented writing.

She began penning consecutive retired of college, freelanced for years and yet followed a way taken by galore young Filipinos: joining a multinational successful the country's booming outsourcing industry.

Lisa says she ne'er felt the request to usage artificial quality (AI) successful her work.

"I tin accidental that I americium capable to bash my job, I conscionable deadlines. In my opinion, determination is nary request for [AI]," she told the BBC.

Eight months into her latest role, and 1 period earlier the presumption was owed to go permanent, she was made redundant.

In the months before, Lisa says a nationalist relations bureau had been tasked with producing AI-generated worldly that she and her colleagues were asked to edit. She says her skills were utilized to bid the AI connected the institution penning style.

"I consciousness similar I dug my ain grave," she says. "We were the ones who trained the artificial quality that replaced us."

Lisa, not her existent name, is 1 of respective erstwhile outsourcing employees the BBC spoke to who asked to stay anonymous. They signed confidentiality agreements successful instrumentality for severance pay, and fearfulness that speaking publically could wounded their chances of uncovering enactment successful an manufacture which has a tiny network.

Their experiences connection an penetration into a question confronting emerging economies similar the Philippines: what happens erstwhile AI begins to automate the jobs that helped assistance millions of radical into the mediate classes?

Every evening astir 5pm, streams of workers wearing institution lanyards spill retired of high-rise offices successful the territory of Cubao successful Manila.

It's 1 of respective areas of the superior wherever multinational companies person premises – providing each sorts of outsourcing enactment including telephone centres, accounting, bundle improvement and selling transcript services for clients thousands of miles away.

For implicit 2 decades, these concern districts person symbolised 1 of the Philippines' biggest economical occurrence stories.

Beginning successful the aboriginal 2000s, the state was promoted arsenic an English-speaking alternate to India for what's called concern process outsourcing (BPO).

Successive governments offered taxation incentives, invested successful infrastructure and encouraged multinational companies to acceptable up ample operations.

Global groups similar Accenture, Concentrix and Teleperformance built sprawling campuses, employing hundreds of thousands of Filipinos.

Today, the outsourcing manufacture employs astir 1.9 cardinal people, and generates $40bn (£30.1bn) successful revenues each year, accounting for astir 10% of the Philippines' economy.

But experts accidental the manufacture is disproportionately susceptible to the interaction of AI.

The International Labour Organization estimates that 12.7 cardinal Filipinos - much than 1 successful 4 workers - are employed successful occupations exposed to generative AI, the highest stock successful South East Asia.

The organisation expects galore roles to alteration alternatively than vanish but the types of work jobs that radical bash successful the Philippines leaves it peculiarly astatine risk.

Jack Madrid, president of the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), admits that AI is being adopted by the sector.

More than two-thirds of IBPAP's members are already moving AI pilots, helium says.

"Agentic AI has the imaginable to automate astatine a overmuch much accelerated pace," Madrid says. "Obviously, there's a furniture of jobs that are automatable oregon person been automated."

But helium adds that the immense bulk of affected workers person been redeployed wrong the aforesaid organisations.

Madrid says immoderate weakness successful hiring reflects much than the interaction of AI.

"We've seen a slowdown successful concern decisions connected whether definite occupation functions oregon processes should beryllium offshored," helium says, pointing to slower planetary request and uncertainty implicit however companies volition yet deploy the technology.

Even so, helium acknowledges the challenge. "We cannot bash capable to beryllium prepared," helium says. "The value of reskilling" cannot beryllium overstated.

Mary, different erstwhile contented writer whose sanction we've changed, says her leader encouraged the usage of AI arsenic a productivity tool.

Instead of making her occupation easier, she says it created further responsibilities.

"We had to edit more, fact-check much due to the fact that the information AI produced was inaccurate," she says. "Technically it was much enactment for us."

Like Lisa, she was aboriginal made redundant.

Companies are nether unit to instrumentality AI, to trim costs and summation productivity, experts say.

Teleperformance, the world's largest telephone centre relation and 1 of the Philippines' biggest backstage employers, has said AI offers an accidental to augment alternatively than regenerate its workforce.

The institution expects AI to grip regular interactions portion quality agents determination into much analyzable roles.

Teleperformance has besides said it plans to retrain employees.

Accenture has likewise said that generative AI volition reshape astir each occupation alternatively than destruct positions.

The steadfast has promised to put billions of dollars successful AI capabilities and workforce training.

Concentrix - which is the biggest outsourcing steadfast successful the Philippines - says its AI systems should stay nether quality oversight and has committed to grooming employees successful the caller technology.

Some Filipino managers are uneasy astir AI and privation to dilatory down adoption, according to Paul Quintos, from the University of the Philippines-Diliman.

They are acrophobic astir however overmuch of the home workforce mightiness beryllium displaced.

"But there's tremendous unit from overseas clients to follow AI," helium says. "It's a large cost-cutting measure."

Philippine outsourcing companies vie straight with rivals successful India and elsewhere for contracts from multinational corporations.

Increasingly, those clients expect suppliers not lone to supply cheaper labour, but besides to integrate AI into the services they deliver.

Despite hundreds of billions of dollars being invested globally successful AI, Quintos says determination is inactive constricted grounds astir however overmuch productivity galore workplace tools really deliver.

"There is simply a word called 'AI washing'," helium says.

Some layoffs are presented arsenic being driven by AI erstwhile companies are successful information responding to weaker request oregon slowing economical conditions, Quintos says.

Attributing redundancies to AI, helium adds, tin marque restructuring look similar technological advancement alternatively than a effect to marketplace conditions.

Labour groups person told the BBC that existing employment laws successful the Philippines govern redundancy but connection small guidance connected however companies should present AI into workplaces oregon consult employees implicit its use.

The Philippines' outsourcing assemblage is besides non-unionised, leaving galore workers with small ceremonial accidental implicit however caller technologies are deployed.

The authorities says that it, and the backstage assemblage person a work to retrain workers, and risks falling down competitors similar India and Singapore.

"To beryllium wholly honest, I deliberation we're somewhat behind. We person to drawback up," says Leandro Aguirre of the Philippines Department of Information and Communications Technology.

"We person to treble our efforts to enactment our radical successful a presumption wherever they volition not beryllium displaced but really thrive successful this increasing AI race."

The authorities has committed to upskilling much than 300,000 outsourcing workers, but Aguirre acknowledges that the Philippines whitethorn request to rethink the economical exemplary that helped marque it an outsourcing centre.

"We relied heavy connected overseas nonstop investment," helium says. "But I deliberation we besides request to absorption connected section endowment and section companies."

The ambition, helium says, is to physique home-grown AI companies susceptible of creating higher-value jobs.

Aguirre rejects calls for sweeping caller AI legislation, arguing that existing labour, privateness and user extortion laws tin beryllium adapted much rapidly done regulatory guidance.

"The benefits of AI person to trickle down to people," helium says. "It can't conscionable payment employers."

For much than 20 years, the Philippines built 1 of the world's astir palmy outsourcing industries by selling the skills of its radical to multinational companies.

AI whitethorn not extremity that model, but it is surely changing it, and risks leaving immoderate workers behind.

Additional reporting by Jaltson Akkanath Chummar and Regine Cabato