As attorneys, we’re required to finish 36 hours of Obligatory Persevering with Authorized Schooling (MCLE) each three years.
The MCLE program’s purpose is to reinforce the follow of legislation, be sure that all attorneys keep up to date, and keep moral requirements in our follow.
We are actually on the eighth compliance interval, overlaying April 15, 2022 to April 14, 2025.
The subjects lined are cross-examination guidelines, arbitration, taxation, the brand new code {of professional} accountability, company legislation, taxation, trial strategies, information privateness, and updates on new legal guidelines, guidelines, and rules. Out of the 27 items, there’s a 2-unit course which is Authorized Writing, Finest Practices, and AI (synthetic intelligence). https://flexisynch.accessonline.ph/mcle-lecture-series-29/)
Two out of 27 items shouldn’t be rather a lot, however it’s a step in the appropriate course.
The authorized follow within the Philippines has been conventional and conservative, and there are nonetheless many doubters on the impact and affect of Synthetic Intelligence (AI). Nonetheless, it’s turning into clear that AI’s affect on the follow of legislation is a actuality we are able to not ignore.
Within the academe, colleges are additionally nonetheless within the strategy of integrating new developments in computing, processing, machine studying, language fashions, and synthetic intelligence of their curricula.
Nonetheless, the unlucky actuality is that within the Philippines, we’re behind in our preparations to adapt to this new and altering world.
Singapore has began a program to pay for greater schooling diplomas for Singaporeans aged 40 and above, to allow them to develop and adapt to a world with Synthetic Intelligence.
Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong introduced earlier this 12 months in his 2024 Funds speech that beginning Might 2024, all Singaporeans aged 40 and above will obtain a 4,000 Singaporean {dollars} (SGD$) top-up in SkillsFuture credit.
(https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/budget-2024-s4000-skillsfuture-topup-workers-2364101)
The subsidy offered by the Singaporean authorities is to encourage Singaporeans to prioritize schooling and to permit them to pursue one other diploma in greater schooling. The world is altering at a speedy tempo such that what one learns at school at 20 years outdated has already develop into out of date by the point one turns 40 years outdated.
The programs cowl a variety of topics and specialties akin to Data and Communications, Engineering, Schooling and Coaching, and Healthcare.
The world has gone via three industrial revolutions, and we’re presently within the 4th, which includes the fusion of digital, organic, and bodily applied sciences. The important thing components embrace synthetic intelligence, the Web of issues, robotics, and biotechnology. It focuses on good applied sciences and interconnected programs that allow automation and information trade in manufacturing and different industries.
(https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/)
Singapore shouldn’t be alone in making ready to adapt to organize its residents for this future.
Sovereign AI is going on now, the place nations construct their information facilities operating on the most recent pc chips, principally produced by NVIDIA, an American firm set to surpass Microsoft because the world’s largest firm, to run generative AI software program packages.
They feed the info facilities their nation’s information and permit this system to help in analysis and growth with the purpose of producing options and extra environment friendly processes for numerous fields akin to, however not restricted to, well being care, agriculture, infrastructure, telecommunications, manufacturing, monetary providers, social welfare.
The USA, France, Switzerland, Italy, Canada, India, Singapore, Japan, and Vietnam are some nations which can be investing closely in constructing AI factories and information facilities to course of their nation’s information and use this information for the great of their nation and residents.
Final April, Vietnamese tech firm FPT International introduced a strategic partnership with Nvidia to construct an AI manufacturing unit in Vietnam for $200 million. This facility will encompass Nvidia’s newest graphic chips and is meant for use for analysis and growth, present software program and {hardware} cloud computing providers, and options for companies in automotive know-how, manufacturing, finance, banking, and insurance coverage, and assist companies automate operations.
It is usually meant to deliver Nvidia’s coaching into formal educating at universities and excessive colleges to develop high-tech human assets offering about 30,000 college students entry to this system inside 5 years. (https://e27.co/fpt-nvidia-to-build-us200m-ai-factory-in-vietnam-20240423/)
Whereas $200 million appears like an enormous sum of cash, that is one thing the Philippines can afford. We’ve got certainly allotted more cash from our Nationwide Funds for different issues.
A Philippine AI manufacturing unit and generative AI information middle can help in offering our authorities with extra environment friendly methods to deploy its assets, akin to the place to construct colleges, how higher to gather taxes and determine and shut loopholes, handle site visitors, the place to construct roads, bridges and infrastructure, what crops to plant for agriculture, when and what merchandise to import and which to provide ourselves, how you can use our assets to enhance our tourism trade, the sorts of hospitals and medical tools that’s greatest fitted to Filipinos, how you can streamline authorities processes and paperwork, academic curriculum tailored for Filipino college students, and sure, even which know-how and weapons our nation ought to develop or purchase for our nationwide protection.
Our every day information feeds are crammed with points akin to the continued saga of Mayor Alice Guo, the West Philippine Sea dispute with China, the divorce invoice in Congress, transferring again the varsity calendar to June/ July, earthquakes and floods, and textual content message alerts from Meralco on the state of our energy provide. This isn’t to say that these points are usually not necessary. Nonetheless, we could do higher if we had been to focus extra on how you can enhance our individuals’s expertise and future.
In an interview with NVIDIA’s President, Jensen Huang, he mentions that his firm is “Democratizing” know-how as the price of constructing and operating a supercomputer retains taking place.
Our neighbors, and the world, are already constructing their AI infrastructure. With out this infrastructure, we enable different nations to retailer and use our information. When different nations have entry to our information, we’re at their mercy and we’ll proceed to be pushed round and dictated by them. They are going to have the ability to sit on their excessive horse and inform the Filipinos what’s greatest for them and what they need to do.
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That is certainly what some nations need, for the Philippines to be always reliant on them in order that it may be utilized in their very own geopolitical and financial recreation. Sadly, this has been occurring for a very long time.
Nations should get up to the ability of AI which is able to consequence within the manufacturing of intelligence. The Philippines can do that by proudly owning its personal manufacturing of intelligence. When we’ve our personal infrastructure, we’ll personal our personal information, we can refine it and use it for what is sweet for Filipinos. Then and solely then, will we personal our future.
(The writer, Atty. John Philip C. Siao, is a practising lawyer and founding Associate of Tiongco Siao Bello & Associates Legislation Workplaces, an Arbitrator of the Development Trade Arbitration Fee of the Philippines, and teaches legislation on the De La Salle College Tañada-Diokno College of Legislation. He could also be contacted at [email protected]. The views expressed on this article belong to the writer alone.)
