ILOILO City – The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has set its sights on making Western Visayas the country’s prime hub for responsible and inclusive artificial intelligence (AI) development, using Iloilo City as the stage for the Philippines’ first-ever AI Festival.
Launched on Aug. 11 at the Iloilo Convention Center, the three-day “AI Fest 2025” seeks to establish the region as a model for integrating AI in ways that are ethical, impactful, and tailored to address the social and economic needs of cities and communities.
“Artificial Intelligence (AI) plays an increasingly vital role in fostering innovation across various sectors and is essential for meeting the nation’s ambitious development goals,” said DOST Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. in his keynote speech, stressing its applications in research, healthcare, and policymaking.
Solidum underscored AI’s potential to streamline public services, enhance data-driven policies, and boost socioeconomic progress while warning against misuse. Since 2017, the government has invested P2.3 billion in AI programs to build a strong national AI ecosystem.
AI-powered projects unveiled
Four new AI projects were launched during the festival: Talino AI for enhanced decision-making; Smartgrid AI by MORE Power Corp. for energy optimization; the ASEAN Youth Organization’s AI READY ASEAN program to empower young innovators; and the DOST-AWS AI Innovation Sandbox with Amazon Web Services to spur experimentation.
Education in focus
DOST-6 Regional Director and AI Fest chair Engr. Rowen Gelonga assured that AI should be embraced, not feared, especially in education.
“AI is here not to replace creativity, but rather to augment it, allowing for new forms of expression and innovation,” he said.
West Visayas State University already offers a BS Computer Science major in AI — a program running for over three years — and Gelonga projected that within five years, all universities in the region would have AI tracks.
“Western Visayas aims to position itself as a major innovation hub, and we cannot achieve this aspiration unless all universities and colleges in the region offer AI as a specialization,” he added.
Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges president Dr. Tirso A. Ronquillo noted that AI integration in curricula is underway across various engineering programs.
“It is essential that our students are enabled to participate, and part of this initiative is to capacitate teachers as well,” he said, adding that both public and private universities are introducing AI and machine learning courses.
Solidum stressed the importance of training educators to guide students in using AI without sacrificing logical reasoning and critical thinking skills.
“To ensure the ethical use of artificial intelligence and to protect students from being misled by the vast array of information available online, it is essential that we educate them on the value of fact-checking,” he said.
Festival highlights
Running until Aug. 13, the event features an AI Hackathon, a technical conference, the “SineAI” short film contest, and an exhibition of AI-powered solutions, aiming to spark innovation, strengthen local tech capacity, and attract national and international partners./PN