Aquino urges creation of Filipino-made AI, warns of risks from foreign models

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Bam Aquino on Wednesday urged the government to develop a Filipino-made artificial intelligence (AI) model, warning that continued reliance on foreign-made ones could influence Filipinos’ culture, language, and perspectives.

Aquino raised the concern during the Senate committee on finance’s budget hearing on the 2027 spending plan of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

He noted that Filipinos currently rely heavily on foreign-developed AI systems such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.

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“As you keep on using the AI, you’re training the AI, but the AI is also training you and a lot of the time, the output that it’s giving you is from the perspective of the creators of the AI,” Aquino said.

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“So if we’re not careful, and our countrymen, our youth, are all using AI coming from other countries, eventually there will be a type of assimilation of culture, language, and mores, and norms,” he added.

As an example, he said a Chinese AI would have differing views on the South China Sea, West Philippine Sea issue as compared to a Filipino-made one.

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DOST Sec. Renato Solidum Jr. said the agency was already working on a locally-made large language model (LLM), with a program recently approved to cover not only major Philippine languages but also less widely spoken ones.

Dr. Franz De Leon of the Advanced Science and Technology Institute under the DOST also discussed “Itanong,” an AI chatbot that can process queries in Filipino, English, and Taglish and operates in a private space.

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Aquino also cited the potential use of the chatbot in government services, suggesting that the Filipino AI model could eventually be integrated into e-government platforms.

He said it may already help citizens understand government processes, permits, and other services.

Asked about DOST’s role in the master plan of AI development in the country, Solidum also explained that while the DOST takes the lead in the government’s broader national AI strategy through research, operations, and talent development, it also assigned different roles to other government agencies.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) handles the infrastructure and connectivity component, while the Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DepDev) focuses on governance and policies on AI.

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Moreover, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) will be involved in workforce development alongside the Department of Education and Commission on Higher Education, Solidum added. /cb