The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is pursuing the modernization of airport operations to curb corruption, saying it will utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to lessen person-to-person contact, thus reducing graft and corruption.
BI commissioner Norman Tansingco said the bureau is also eyeing AI as part of its modernization initiatives, which they plan to implement by 2024 or 2025, wherein the passenger goes directly to the boarding gate.
“It will lessen the discretion of the immigration officer. Definitely, it will reduce the opportunity to commit graft or any abuse,” Tansingco added.
The BI chief said passengers will simply pass through a machine where their passports will be scanned and verified automatically and will reduce face-to-face interactions between passengers and officers, which may prevent dishonest employees from doing illegal acts.
Tansingco said with the modernization program, almost everything will be automated, “because if we automate, there will be no more conversations, it will all be machines.”
The immigration commissioner cited the examples of Canada, South Korea and other countries using artificial intelligence (AI) in their operations, which hasten the movement and processing of travel documents.
He previously said they are seeking to replace half of the manual counters in airports with electronic gates.