Davao Councilor Bonz Andrei Militar on Tuesday lobbied for the creation of an ordinance that will introduce Artificial Intelligence (AI) robots, as well as AI tools, for efficient delivery of government services.
During the Sangguniang Panlungsod session on Tuesday, Philippine-made robots from East West International Educational Specialists Inc.(EWEIS)
were presented, doing dance numbers and interacting with humans.
Militar said that the AI robots and technology hold great potential to improve public service, emphasizing how they supplement the city’s current workforce.
“AI robots as presented a while ago is for entertainment but those AI robots can give any information, for example if we are going to display them here in our Sangguniang Panlungsod or our City Hall. You can ask them any questions about the city, for example what is the process of this one, saan ako pupunta (where should I go). The AI robots can answer and also AI robots can be used for disaster response. We are planning sa City nato to embrace AI pero dili nato tanggalon ang atong human workforce (to embrace AI but we will not replace our human workforce),” he said.
Militar said that they will create legislations that gear toward making the city a hub or center for AI.
“We are planning to slowly introduce these, depending on the budget of the city,” Militar said, adding that the proposal will be discussed in committee hearings that will be joined by various stakeholders.
The SP earlier passed the AI Border and Public Safety Surveillance Ordinance, which mandates the installation of AI-powered facial recognition and CCTVs at the major entry points, including airports, seaports, land terminals, and public parks.
Further, an AI City Traffic Management System has been pushed to integrate AI into the city’s traffic management system. It is now under the committee level.
Meanwhile, the city also has “Davao Smart Emergency Response and Locator System Ordinance”, which aims to introduce a GPS-enabled platform for a more efficient dispatch and accurate caller location tracking for Davao Central 911.
Digitalization has been part of Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte’s 12 point priority agenda under the Good Governance Through Innovative ICT, which underscores the city’s commitment to exemplify Ease of Doing Business through adoption of digitalization and automation initiatives in public services and transactions. CIO