78% of Filipino workers use AI every day. Only 35% were ever trained for it.
A study of 3,516 Filipino employees found AI is now part of ordinary work. The same workers worry it is quietly making them think less.
AI is no longer something Filipino workers are waiting for. It is already open in another tab. A study by the local software company Sprout Solutions found that 78 percent of Filipino workers across 13 industries use AI in their daily work. The findings came from interviews with 3,516 Filipino employees between May 8 and May 29.
What they use it for is ordinary office life. Among workers who use AI, 27 percent said they use it for communication, 23 percent for processing information, 16 percent for thinking and making decisions, and 12 percent for computer and digital tasks. Most of them picked it up on their own. Only 35 percent said their company gave them AI training built for their actual role.
Why it matters
The study linked daily AI use to higher output, less overtime, and lower stress. It also found that workers who lean on AI when deciding things report feeling less pressure, which suggests the tool is not just making them faster, it is carrying part of the mental load. Sprout Solutions also noted that higher AI-driven output came with workers feeling more recognized at work.
Employees want AI to enhance, not erode, their thinking abilities.
The catch to watch
The same workers who benefit from it are the ones raising the flag. They told the study they are worried that leaning on AI too much could weaken their thinking instead of sharpening it. That is a hard thing to notice in yourself, because the work still gets done, and it gets done faster. The honest test is whether you can still do the task when the tool is not there.
The bigger backdrop is jobs. A February report from the International Labour Organization found that about 12.7 million workers in the Philippines are exposed to generative AI, meaning software that writes text, which is the highest in ASEAN. It also found that 3.6 percent of jobs in the country are highly exposed and at risk of being displaced. The ILO's own read is that the main effect will be jobs changing shape rather than disappearing outright. Which puts the training gap in a sharper light: most Filipinos are already using this thing, and most of them are figuring it out alone.