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A lot of jobs will be rendered "obsolete" by artificial intelligence (AI) if the concerned industries don't get the benefit of “strong, immediate, and responsive” protections with the law.

Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda gave this warning following the release of an article by the New York Times about the dangers of AI, as articulated in the thoughts of scientist Geoffrey Hinton. Hinton worked on AI for more than 25 years.

“The labor displacement issue is very valid. It will definitely make many jobs obsolete. Quick copywriting would be one of the first to fall. Videos made by AI are also emerging, and soon enough, they will be close to real," Salceda said in a statement Tuesday, May 2.

“But you will notice that AI ultimately relies on source material as basis for the ‘art’ it generates. So, theoretically, we should be able to take legal action on those who use AI-generated material if it infringes on original copyrighted material," pointed out the Bicolano.

“What AI appears to do right now is alter original content, but in essence, it still depends on original source material," underscored Salceda, pointing to a legal silver lining in the worrisome situation.

The economist-solon clarified that he wasn't against AI. "Like any technology, it has goods and bads. We just have to respond in ways that protect our art and our artists.”

“With these AI-generated multimedia materials all over the internet, you do need a quick response mechanism. That’s why site blocking is as important as copyright protection. No enforcement, no ownership. You cannot own what you cannot protect. And you will not create if you cannot own," he explained.

Salceda is the principal author of House Bill (HB) No.7600, or the proposed Act strengthening the powers and functions of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, amending for the purpose Republic Act (RA) No. 8293, as amended, otherwise known as the “ Intellectual Property Code Of The Philippines".

He says that the key feature of HB No.7600 is that “It allows the Intellectual Property Office to respond quickly to online infringement through a proper process of petitioning for the blocking of a website that contains infringed material."

“I think we will approve it on the floor before the second SONA (State of the Nation Address) of PBBM (President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.). We have time,” said the chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means.

Salceda said he also wants the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) to develop a protocol “for doing site blocking if it is posted on a microsite or a social media account, since, of course, you can’t block the whole site in such cases".

“We will continue to engage the IPOPHIL and the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT to see how we can operationalize these new powers," he said.