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AI Doesn’t Take Jobs. Companies Do. — What Doc Ligot Wants Every Filipino Worker to Know

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Industry leaders are dancing around the truth about AI and jobs — but Doc Ligot isn’t. Here’s the data-backed reality every Filipino worker deserves to hear.

The Weekly Headline: AI Doesn’t Take Jobs. Companies Do. — What Doc Ligot Wants Every Filipino Worker to Know

The Question Nobody in the Room Will Answer

There’s a pattern playing out in corporate boardrooms, tech conferences, and LinkedIn posts across the Philippines: ask a business leader directly whether AI will take jobs, and watch them sidestep. You’ll get talk of “transformation,” “augmentation,” and “new opportunities.” What you rarely get is a straight answer.

Dominic “Doc” Ligot — one of the Philippines’ most prominent AI ethics advocates and data scientists — isn’t having it. In a recent post that cut through the noise, he put it plainly: “Industry leaders are not giving you a straight answer regarding AI and jobs. But the truth is simple.”

What the IMF Actually Says

Doc Ligot cited data from the International Monetary Fund that puts a number on the risk: 14% of jobs in the Philippines are at risk of displacement by AI. This is based on two factors the IMF calls exposure and complementarity. Exposure measures how much of a job AI can already perform. Complementarity measures whether AI is more likely to work alongside you — or instead of you.

A separate IMF working paper goes further, estimating that up to 36% of Philippine jobs are “highly exposed” to AI disruption — with the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector carrying the highest concentration of vulnerable roles. The data also reveals a gender gap: roughly half of jobs held by women in the Philippines fall into the high-exposure category, compared to about a quarter of those held by men.

These aren’t speculative numbers. They’re drawn from occupational mapping of the actual tasks performed in Philippine workplaces, cross-referenced against what current AI systems can already do.

The Most Important Sentence in the Debate

Here’s where Doc Ligot sharpens the conversation: “AI does not take jobs. Companies do. A decision has to be made to automate.”

This reframe matters. It shifts the question from what can AI do? to what will organizations decide to do with it? Technology doesn’t terminate workers — people in positions of power make that call. Which means workers, communities, and policymakers have more agency in this story than the “AI is inevitable” framing suggests.

This is the kind of grounded, accountability-centered perspective that has made Doc Ligot one of the most trusted voices on responsible AI in the Philippines. As the featured speaker for the upcoming webinar series at AI Talks @ Younifest, he brings exactly this kind of clarity to audiences ranging from students to senior executives. You can find details on his upcoming sessions at aitalks.younifest.com.

What Workers and Organizations Should Do Now

The honest answer is: don’t wait for certainty before acting. Map your own exposure — which tasks in your role can already be done faster, cheaper, or better by AI tools available today? Then ask the harder question: is your organization investing in upskilling, or quietly building the business case to reduce headcount?

At the policy level, the Philippines is currently debating several AI regulation bills, including proposals to create an Artificial Intelligence Development Authority (AIDA) and a formal AI Bill of Rights. These frameworks, if passed, could shape how companies are permitted to deploy automation — and what protections workers can expect. The conversation about AI governance and labor is happening right now. The best time to get informed is before decisions get made for you.

AI isn’t coming. It’s here.

And the question isn’t whether it will reshape work in the Philippines — it already is. The question is who gets to shape the decisions being made around it. Getting informed, asking hard questions of your employers, and listening to clear-eyed voices like Doc Ligot’s is where that starts.

Further Reading

About Doc Ligot:

Dominic “Doc” Ligot is one of the leading voices in AI in the Philippines. Doc has been extensively cited in local and global media outlets including The Economist, South China Morning Post, Washington Post, and Agence France Presse. His award-winning work has been recognized and published by prestigious organizations such as NASA, Data.org, Digital Public Goods Alliance, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and UNICEF.

If you need guidance or training in maximizing AI for your career or business, reach out to Doc via https://docligot.com.

Follow Doc Ligot on Facebook: https://facebook.com/docligotAI

Data visualization showing 14% of Philippine jobs at risk from AI

The Real AI Jobs Number in the Philippines — And What We Should Do About It

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The International Monetary Fund says 14% of Philippine jobs are at risk of being replaced by AI — and Doc Ligot, one of the country’s leading AI ethics advocates, says the industry isn’t being straight with you about it.

The Weekly Headline: The Real AI Jobs Number in the Philippines — And What We Should Do About It

If you’ve been waiting for a clear, honest answer about what AI will do to jobs in the Philippines, you’ve probably been disappointed. Keynote speakers hedge. Press releases celebrate “opportunity.” The real numbers get buried in footnotes.

Doc Ligot isn’t doing that.

In a recent post that cut through the usual corporate spin, Dominic “Doc” Ligot — data scientist, AI ethics advocate, and one of the most cited Filipino voices on responsible technology — spelled it out plainly: “The International Monetary Fund says 14% of jobs in the Philippines are at risk. This is based on exposure and complementarity.”

What the Numbers Actually Mean

The IMF framework works in two layers. First, exposure: how much of a given job can AI already do? Then, complementarity: does AI help that worker become more productive, or does it simply replace them?

The headline figure — 36% of Philippine jobs are “highly exposed” to AI — sounds alarming. But once you factor in complementarity, the picture sharpens: roughly 14% of the total workforce faces genuine displacement risk. That’s not a small number. It represents millions of Filipinos, concentrated heavily in the BPO sector, administrative roles, and data-entry work — jobs that have long been a cornerstone of the Philippine economy.

The gender dimension is equally sobering. According to IMF research, approximately half of all jobs held by women in the Philippines are highly exposed to AI disruption, compared to roughly a quarter of jobs held by men. This isn’t a technical footnote — it’s a structural equity issue that demands a policy response.

Philippines Is Stepping Up — But Is It Fast Enough?

The good news: the Philippine government isn’t ignoring this. As the 2026 ASEAN Chair, the Philippines has made ethical AI governance a centerpiece of its regional agenda. Under the banner of “AI for Good,” the country is championing a Southeast Asian regulatory framework that prioritizes fairness, accountability, and human oversight — not just economic efficiency.

Multiple bills for a Philippine Council on Artificial Intelligence (PCAI) have been filed in both chambers of Congress. CHED, the Commission on Higher Education, held its inaugural RAISE convention in February to embed AI literacy into universities nationwide. These are meaningful moves.

But legislation and conventions take time. Workers whose livelihoods are disrupted right now can’t wait for committee reports.

What Doc Ligot Is Saying That Others Won’t

This is where voices like Doc Ligot’s matter most. As the featured speaker at AI Talks @ Younifest and a sought-after resource for organizations navigating AI responsibly, Doc has consistently pushed past the optimism to ask: who gets left behind, and what are we prepared to do about it?

His upcoming webinars — details at aitalks.younifest.com — tackle exactly this kind of question: not just how to adopt AI, but how to adopt it in ways that don’t quietly transfer risk onto the most vulnerable workers.

The 14% figure isn’t a scare tactic. It’s a planning number. And the organizations and individuals who take it seriously now will be the ones with options later.

AI isn’t coming. It’s here.

The question was never whether AI would reshape the Philippine workforce. The question is whether Filipinos will be informed participants in that reshaping — or surprised by it. Getting honest about the numbers is step one.

Further Reading

About Doc Ligot:

Dominic “Doc” Ligot is one of the leading voices in AI in the Philippines. Doc has been extensively cited in local and global media outlets including The Economist, South China Morning Post, Washington Post, and Agence France Presse. His award-winning work has been recognized and published by prestigious organizations such as NASA, Data.org, Digital Public Goods Alliance, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and UNICEF.

If you need guidance or training in maximizing AI for your career or business, reach out to Doc via https://docligot.com.

Follow Doc Ligot on Facebook: https://facebook.com/docligotAI