Artificial Intelligence (AI) will force humankind to elevate itself to a different level and create solutions to long standing problems instead of aggravating them, according to Mario Domingo, the freshly appointed Global Chief Technological Officer of UBX, the leading open finance platform in the Philippines.

In the latest episode of the Orange Chair, a web series featuring today’s top thought leaders and influencers, the digital transformation virtuoso debunked the public’s common misconceptions about AI.

“You have to understand that many human jobs are droning and repeating tasks. All these automation and logical types of work can be replaced by AI, and I do not see that as bad news. It can elevate humankind to a higher plane because AI can do karaoke and be ignorant at the same time or nurse patients while cooking  really good Adobo. While it is possible that it will replace jobs, it will create new ones,” Domingo said.

As a serial entrepreneur, technology is at the core of his work, with numerous companies and titles under his name.  With over three decades of experience, Domingo is one of the most successful digital transformation executives in the Asia Pacific Region, having played multiple roles in various organizations in Asia and the US. 

Advocacy remains to be the driving force behind his ambitions. Aside from tech, Domingo has a great passion for delivering quality health care for the people, which became the cornerstone of DARC Labs.

Along with the country’s top tech philanthropists, Domingo founded the Domingo AI Research Center (DARC) Foundation in 2019, a non-profit organization focused on creating AI-Driven solutions that advance Philippine Universal Healthcare.

“My biggest heartbreak was that despite all the tech that humankind has developed, it could not figure out something as simple as breast cancer. Commercial medicine is geared towards those people who can afford it and if you cannot afford healthcare, you are completely excluded from progress. So the story of DARC Labs is about leveraging what I already knew about artificial intelligence to develop universally inclusive healthcare solutions,” he explained.

However, Domingo revealed that his affinity for technology was not intentional. “I was a kid of the 1970s. That being the age of the Apollo projects, astronauts going to the moon, it was inevitable that my imagination would also go places”, he said.

With a double Master’s degree in Science in Finance and Economics at the University of Southern California and a certificate degree in Artificial Intelligence from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Computer Science Artificial Intelligence Lab to boot, Domingo is a veteran in the fields of financial technology, media, telecommunications, health care, manufacturing, and defense. Currently, he is also the director of the Ateneo Institute for Digital Enterprises of the Graduate School of Business.

The Orange Chair series is available on the official YouTube channel of UBX Philippines.


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