Humans, AI and dreams

On Monday night, Sept. 2, 2024, I heard one of the best speeches ever. Manuel V. Pangilinan, the president and CEO of PLDT, Meralco and Metro Pacific Investments Corp., three corporate colossuses, talked about the challenges of digital and AI (artificial intelligence) before scholars, legal luminaries and business bigwigs.

MVP addressed the awards ceremony where the great former 21st chief justice Artemio V. Panganiban, 88, gave away scholarships, fellowships and cash gifts from his Foundation for Liberty and Prosperity Inc. (FLP), in partnership with the Tan Yan Kee Foundation (represented by LT Group and PAL Holdings CEO Lucio “Han” Tan III); Ayala (represented by incoming government corporate counsel Solomon Hermosura); Metrobank Foundation (represented by Metrobank chair Arthur Ty and Toyota Motor Philippines chair Alfred Ty) and MPIC, owner of Meralco and one of Asia’s largest infra and utilities companies.

Representing the country’s biggest conglomerate (in market cap) was Amando M. Tetangco Jr., chair of SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) and also chair of FLP.

The First Lady, Louise Araneta Marcos, herself a distinguished lawyer and a long-time law professor, and Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo represented the country’s political and judicial elite, respectively. Tetangco is chair of the FLP Esmel Fellowship Program; CJ Gesmundo, the Legal Scholarship Program. SC Justice Amy Lazaro-Javier chaired the Dissertation Writing Contest.

Panganiban won a UP scholarship but did not enrol in UP because his parents could not afford the 15-centavo bus ride from their Sampaloc shanty to Diliman. PLDT CEO MVP, then barely 20, earned his MBA at Wharton, thanks to a scholarship won in a nationwide competition. Monday’s audience is inured to the dictum – success comes from two sources, scholarship and hard work.

MVP began his 12-minute speech with a joke. A mother accompanied her daughter to a tomb. The girl asked mother if it is possible to intern two bodies in one tomb. “No,” said the mother. “Why?” she asked her child. The daughter replied: “Because the tombstone reads: ‘A lawyer and a good man.’”

Turning serious, MVP warned the battle between humans and AI will be tough. Excerpts from his speech:

“The fact that you use digital to describe yourself, you’re about 10 years behind. So please drop the word ‘digital’ since almost everything, everywhere, are already digital. Generative AI has the capacity to create huge data and create new content, video, audio and text, which resemble human intelligence. And because its products, even if artificial and loop back into the system, you can learn and become over time more human-like.

“AI will get smarter over time. So we must be wary of what AI can do now and more so in the future. The nexus between the values the FLP espouses – liberty and prosperity, with artificial intelligence must be articulated by your group. As companies gradually replace call centers, video agents, as well as repetitive processes in our offices and backrooms with robots, what will set apart humans?

“Many thinkers believe that the human advantage lies precisely in freedom of thought, in our creative expression and in the Filipinos’ native ability for storytelling – marites, in today’s vocabulary.

“Algorithms are the home court of AI, but these can be rigid and fundamentalist. And we should be able to distinguish ourselves, not by competing with them, but by exercising liberty of thought, our talent to think and providing our creative and innovative powers with AI. This is essential today in our continuing pursuit for prosperity.

“Remember this: you will not be replaced by AI per se, but you can be replaced by a person or persons using AI effectively. When you surf the internet, Google, YouTube or Netflix, the artificial intelligence server that is connected to Netflix or YouTube actually interacts with you – with humans.

“And together with your algorithms of that server and your own experience, that is what produces the data that is created by AI. So, it is not true that AI itself can run this world. They have to interact with human beings.

“In this AI-driven era, one thing is sure – technology is going to make everything more efficient. AI can handle enormous mountains of data and automate repetitive and increasingly complex tasks. But it cannot replace the human touch, our empathy, our ability to connect, our judgments and instincts and our capacity to navigate the emotions of crisis.

“It is not true that AI will take over this world. There will always be that human interface that’s needed to make it effective. These are the qualities that will keep you relevant, not just as professionals, but as people in a world where technology does the heavy lifting. It’s your ability to bring understanding, compassion and insight to the table that will truly set you apart.

“The greatest challenge to the highest potential of AI demands the fundamental right to self-expression, free from restraint or from the slavery of technology and addressing a real enemy, the poverty of the people, and transforming that into prosperity. In this digital age where content is infinite and TikTok is unli, we must also choose wisely what to pay attention to. Deepfakes can be dangerous despite your education. Be ready for social media bubbles.

“Meet people in person. Shake their hands. Look them in the eye. And if the need or opportunity arises, extend a helping hand. Have real fun.

“I just want you to do me a favor, just one favor. Exercise your right to dream. Dream of a reality that ought to be, that must be.

“I want you to be what John F. Kennedy once said, ‘an idealist without any illusions.’ You may or may not get there, but I know that you must try and hold on and hold out. Our country will be better for you. Don’t just insist on heroes. Become one.”

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