(First of two parts)
Digital solutions and artificial intelligence (AI) lie at the core of many of the responses coming from both government and civil society groups to address recent corruption scandals and the public clamor for real transparency in the budget process. For example, Senate Bill No. 1506, or Citizen Access to National Accountability and Disclosure of Expenditures (or Cadena Bill) is based on the use of blockchain technology and digital portals to ensure transparency and accountability in the budget making and monitoring processes. After passing third reading in the Senate in December last year, it was reported to be on the fast-track lane for approval. Two weeks ago, the executive's economic managers also unveiled “big bold reforms”, most of which were expected to focus on streamlining processes to boost ease of doing business, largely reliant on a digitally transformed bureaucracy. Then, just a few days ago, the President was also reported to have signed the National Digital Connectivity Plan with a vision of a digitally connected Philippines.
Thus it is not surprising that these conversation highways will land at some point – indeed, must land – on some fundamental questions: How do we ensure that our power system will have the capacity to support a digitally connected Philippines? What does this digital transformation mean for our electricity system? What impact does AI have on the way different components of our power systems (grid and off-grid) work? What form (or forms) of electricity infrastructure do we need to realize and sustain these improvements to generate positive change?
Today, the discussion about the impact of AI on electricity focuses primarily on smart grids, advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), and data centers – all of which offer opportunities to advance economic progress and deal with issues that are legitimate and deserve appropriate attention.
However, if we are to truly seize this opportunity in history to create a better future for our country, we will need to expand the debate beyond these current boundaries.
Last April, I had the opportunity to publicly share some of my thoughts on this topic at Meralco Power Academy's Giga Summit 2025. At the summit I shared some learnings from a small experiment I conducted in which I asked a generative AI tool the question: “How do you make electricity rates affordable in Metro Manila, Philippines?” The responses provided by the AI tool (consistently, I must say, across two iterations) sparked some interesting conversations and a few laughs from the audience.
Over the recent holidays, I was able to consider these questions in more depth when I read Richard Susskind's book How to think about AI: A guide for the confused. I have been following Professor Suskind's work for some time, as he has been a leader in the field of legal technology and the impact of AI on businesses since the 1980s. His latest book challenges the reader to confront the imminent reality that “balancing the benefits and dangers of artificial intelligence – saving humanity with and from AI – is the defining challenge of our era.”
I want to share just five points to consider as we lead this collective discussion on empowering our country's future in the digital economy.
1. We need to imagine differently. One of the basic principles in public policy (and indeed in any problem-solving exercise) is to make sure that you are asking the right questions or that you are clear about the problem you want to solve before you start designing a solution. As we begin to build a future that is digitally connected and AI-intensive, this practice becomes more complex, and the scenarios more nuanced.
Take the case of data centres. As the government recognizes the Philippines as a preferred destination for data center investors and developers, we need to make sure we are asking the right questions in formulating policy. If we focus only on increasing the country's generation capacity to ensure that data center locators will have adequate power supply for their operations, we are likely to miss the various dimensions of the challenge, such as appropriate siting, appropriate power sourcing, optimal operations or business lifecycle, and rate allocation design, etc. – all of which need to be considered while formulating a policy on data center hosting. It is not just a matter of addressing the impact on demand, although that in itself is already a difficult task. As Susskind notes with regard to the impact of AI on planning, “The bigger question is probably to what extent AI systems will transform civilization and humanity by 2050.”
In other words – and this is, in my view, the first challenge posed by AI on public policy – we need to try to push the limits of our imagination, to model the demands of behavior and operation on our systems (not just in megawatts or megawatt-hours) differently. With AMI and smart grids that can deliver real-time information on electricity consumption and rates, for example, will monthly electricity bills still be relevant? We will need to imagine the impact of AI in a world that will no longer work as we know it because the use of AI itself will have changed it. Paraphrasing Susskind, we need to be able to imagine a paradigm of an electrical system that is different from the one we all work in today.
2. Our values – tight, clear and strong – will matter more than ever. I spent a lot of time on this point during the Giga Summit as its importance cannot be underlined enough. This is true not only at the national or local government level, but for any organization that will be digital at its core. People who are not clear about their values will make themselves irrelevant and unimportant.
If we are not clear or aligned on the values underpinning the use of AI, the danger is that the existing ills that AI is being used to address will become even more acute. Inequalities may worsen and the existing situation (both political and economic) may be strengthened. It is true that AI can make any process of resolving disputes or arriving at a decision faster and more efficient. However, this does not guarantee proper results. Again, it is possible that dispute resolution or policy making – made more efficient by the use of AI, but based on the wrong set of values or in the absence of a set of values accepted by the community – will be hastened to reach an unfair, unjust or inequitable outcome. Efficiency in decision making is certainly desirable, but it is not necessarily the only value that matters in a just and equitable society.
(to be continued.)
Monalisa C. Dimalanta is a Senior Partner at Puyat Jacinto & Santos Law (PJS Law). She was the Chairperson and CEO of the Energy Regulatory Commission from 2022 to 2025 and the Chairperson of the National Renewable Energy Board from 2019 to 2021.