Susan’s Notes
By Susan Palmes-Dennis
ROCKINGHAM, North Carolina—As I write this, the results of the US midterm elections have yet to be fully known but based on early reports, it seems the US Democrat Party is poised to snag a majority in both Congress and the Senate.
It’s not a totally surprising development given the sheer ferocity and antagonism displayed by the Democrats towards the Trump presidency, but I think the results showed the growing disillusionment and unease by American voters on the war with Iran which is impacting the US economy and the rest of the world. That is the biggest issue hounding the White House above all else.
In other issues, President Trump and the Republicans are winning public sentiment; the LGBTQ-trans dispute, the auditing of US financial assistance, the continuing campaign to protect the country’s borders etc. While the US economy isn’t as awful as Trump’s critics project it to be, it has taken a hit due to high fuel prices caused by the war with Iran. That said, this isn’t the end of the world for conservative Americans, including I believe majority of Fil-Ams like myself.
For one thing, Trump is still president for two more years and the Democrats can whine all they want but it’s the Executive Department that holds sway in terms of implementing programs and policies. However, it also means that the Democrats can post more roadblocks in Trump’s agenda and have an elevated profile to push their candidacies in the 2028 elections. Of course they will aim for the presidency but compared to the Republicans, they have a weak field.
But it’s still two years away and who knows what happens then? Right now, the Republicans have both Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to choose from as their next standard bearer for 2028. The Democrats? Most of their so-called leading lights are far left socialists/closet communists like the amateurish Sen. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. And no, one look at California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s record will show he is unfit to become the next president.
You know, dear readers that I haven’t been quite the consistent contributor of articles in years past owing of course to my semi-retired life here in the US but this late in the game, I found one handy tool to help me in my writing which is artificial intelligence or AI. And believe you me, the first time I used it I found myself both amazed and concerned at how technology has leveled up to the point where basic life/career skills like writing can now be automated.
I asked Gemini, the AI of Google, to write me an article related to my experience as a breast cancer survivor and it did the job for me in a few minutes. Not that surprising for those used to using AI to write for themselves but for a non-techie like me, this was something. Due to age and health reasons I haven’t been as active in writing as I used to be but of course it’s not like my main source of livelihood unlike in my previous career as a multi-media journalist in Cagayan de Oro City.
That said, I know of at least one guy back home in Cagayan de Oro City whose income was drastically affected by ChatGPT and AI services. While I won’t name names, said guy in question admitted in a lengthy Facebook post that he lost his ‘ghost writing’ sideline servicing college students after the students found it more convenient to use AI/Chat GPT to write their term papers and thesis outlines.
And I also read in my Facebook feed about one actress whose mother, a voice talent, lamented how she got fewer jobs due to the increasing use of AI by the advertisers in their commercials. While the voice talent is not yet in danger of being displaced by the AI revolution, it cannot be denied that AI would have a significant impact on the country’s IT and business process outsourcing (BPO) industry which continues to employ thousands of Filipinos.
I’m quite sad that as usual the Philippines is falling way behind its neighbors in Asia in dealing with this rising tech revolution. I admit I had to google ‘Pax Silica’ to know what it would mean to my country of birth and how it should be prepared to meet its challenges. Simply put, ‘Pax Silica’ or the US-led alliance to build AI data centers to meet China head on should be beneficial to those covered by this consortium, including the Philippines.
AI’s impact isn’t isolated in the BPO industry. Again, we cite the case of the Philippine voice talent and anyone who’s monitored Hollywood knows there’s a dispute between actors and artists and the major US production companies over the use of AI generated imagery and videos to make films, oftentimes without the express permission of the artists involved. Let’s face it, using AI is a lot cheaper than using actors who command astronomical talent fees.
This dispute raises issues of intellectual property rights (IPRs) and by this I mean that even past or lo
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