Baguio City hosts 5th annual HR Asia summit
BAGUIO CITY — The Crown Legacy Hotel in Baguio City recently played host to the 5th Annual HR Asia Summit, a dynamic event that delved into the realm of crisis management, HR vision, and the impact of the Gen Z demographic.
Spanning two enlightening days from August 10 to 12, 2023, the summit was centered around a comprehensive 3-point agenda: “Capturing Hearts and Minds,” “Navigating Response, Recovery, and Growth,” and “HR and Strategic Alignment.”
The diverse assembly boasted the presence of accomplished HR professionals, employees, distinguished keynote speakers, and expert panelists hailing from esteemed institutions and industries across the country and the Asia Pacific Region.
On the summit’s second day, Congressman Mark Go’s opening address, delivered by his daughter Charis, brought attention to the emergence of innovative entities like Chat GPT, a robust language model.
He underscored the concept of automating or augmenting work across industries using AI, drawing a distinction between tasks that can be automated and those that still necessitate human intervention.
“Automated means language tasks can be done by AI while augmented means a person engaged in language tasks using AI to do the work. But definitely, there are tasks that cannot be done by AI,” the congressman stated.
Congruently, Congressman Go contemplated the trajectory of future employment, highlighting their commitment to addressing historical learning gaps, current job requirements, and the evolving skill sets imperative for the times ahead.
“Address the gaps of the past and demand of the present with the future in mind,” he urged.
Congressman Go’s optimism extended to his proposed HB7370, introduced in congress as a response to the aforementioned concerns.
He aspired for the discussions at the conference to be informed and inspired by the ideas encapsulated in the bill.
Joey Gurango, the CEO of Xurpass and a keynote speaker at the summit echoed the sentiment that the Philippines was yet to catch up with AI integration, especially in contrast to the already-disrupted technical sector.
He projected a timeframe of 18 to 24 months for other sectors to witness significant AI-related disruptions.
While detailing the present landscape, Gurango revealed that non-technological sectors such as fast-food retail, manufacturing, healthcare, and even the agricultural domain remained largely untouched by the wave of disruptions.
The Philippines, he indicated, retained a “traditional” approach in these areas.
He envisioned, however, that as these sectors eventually experience the AI-driven transformation, a multitude of disruptions and transitions would inevitably transpire, signifying a paradigm shift in employment dynamics.
Gurango contended that AI should be perceived as a collaborative tool for HR departments.
He encapsulated his perspective with a succinct phrase: “Even in an AI-driven world, the ‘H’ in HR stands for ‘Human’. That’s a truth that no AI can change.”
The 5th Annual HR Asia Summit not only explored the evolving facets of HR strategies and crisis management but also pictured a harmonious synergy between human expertise and technological advancement. ### Merriam del Rosario // FNS
