The National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (Nectec) is urging the National AI Committee to adopt a priority agenda to address job displacement by artificial intelligence (AI).
The agency is also expected to collaborate with the Digital Government Agency (DGA) to develop AI tools to assist state officials in drafting and auditing terms of reference (ToR) for state AI projects.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul appointed the new National AI Committee last year to oversee the National AI Strategy and Action Plan, said Chai Wutiwiwatchai, executive director of Nectec and assistant secretary of the AI committee.
The new committee is expected to become permanent, unlike previous versions.
"We hope to hold the first committee meeting this month because AI integration is an urgent national issue, and it will guide major upcoming AI projects," Mr Chai said.
One AI strategy on the agenda is establishing specialised "Centers of Excellence" to act as the primary hosts for different AI sectors.
For example, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation is slated to host the AI for Education Center of Excellence, while a network of universities and hospitals oversees the healthcare hub.
Job displacement
Another major concern is AI job displacement, which could have a huge impact on the Thai economy, said Mr Chai.
The Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council recently forecast nearly 9 million workers could potentially be affected by generative AI, with 2.2 million at risk of being replaced by the technology.
Thailand's unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2026 was 0.94% of the labour force, equivalent to 390,000 people, up by 9.9% year-on-year, noted the think tank.
According to Reuters, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said earlier the rapid development and adoption of AI would not lead to a global "jobs apocalypse", and the technology has not claimed as many white-collar jobs as he feared.
Mr Chai said new regulations should be developed to require companies to train their workers so they can work alongside AI, rather than be replaced by AI.
"I think implementing an automation tax as a financial penalty for employers who lay off their workforce in favour of AI would help slow the replacement of human workers," he said.
Mr Chai said Nectec is collaborating with the DGA to develop AI-powered tools to assist state officials in drafting and auditing ToR for state AI projects regarding procurement processes.
He said this system is meant to improve government procurement efforts.
QUALITY ASSURANCE
Nectec also plans to establish a National Quality Infrastructure (NQI) to test and standardise AI models, if it receives funding from the National AI Committee.
The NQI is expected to audit AI systems in three areas, covering biased training data and ensuring no copyrighted data is improperly used, data privacy compliance, and cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
This auditing guarantees safety and builds trust among local and international customers of AI systems, said Mr Chai.
Nectec already has an AI testing laboratory that assesses AI of Things devices and medical devices that use AI.
The National AI Strategy and Action Plan covers 2022-2027 for the first phase, aiming to train 30,000 high-level AI personnel, comprising 20,000 innovators, 9,000 engineers and 1,000 top-level graduates.
The plan surpassed the goal by producing 50,000 AI-skilled personnel, he said.
The Big Data Institute is taking the lead in drafting phase 2 of the action plan.
