Insider Spotlight
The company has launched a pilot Driver AI Ambassador Program that reframes generative AI as a supporting tool rather than a creative authority.
The initiative scales real, consent-driven stories from driver-partners while maintaining human oversight and factual integrity.
Why it matters
As brands experiment with AI-generated content, concerns about authenticity, misrepresentation, and ethical use continue to grow. Grab’s pilot offers a counter-model, showing how AI can amplify human stories without replacing them.
How it works
Under the program, participating driver-partners take part in human-led sessions that include interviews, recorded voice, photos, and personal anecdotes about their work, families, safety, and community.
These real inputs become the sole source material. AI tools are then used to adapt the content into multiple formats such as short videos and social assets, allowing a single session to generate scaled, consistent storytelling while remaining grounded in fact.
What they’re saying
“The Driver AI Ambassador Program is designed to reimagine influence, shifting it from traditional content creators to the people who live the brand every day: our driver-partners. AI is the enabler, but the stories, the voice, and the truth come from them,” Jewel Oliveros, Grab Philippines head of integrated marketing services and brand marketing, said in a press statement.
For driver-partners, the model creates both visibility and opportunity.
Pioneer participant Patrick Pidlawan Duque, a PWD GrabFood delivery-partner, said the program allows him to share his story more widely.
“Yun po kasi kahit paano po makakatulong rin po sa akin. Yung ma-kapagkwento ka sa mga social media,” Duque said. “Yung magagawa ng pag-onboard po namin dito sa pagiging AI models ng Grab po, kailangan din po namin ma-expose para makilala ng iba. At para makatulong din po sa aming pamilya.”
(“In a way, it can also help me,” Duque said. “Being able to share our stories on social media gives visibility to what we do as part of Grab’s AI model onboarding. That exposure helps others get to know us and allows us to better support our families.”)
Ethics and governance
Participation is anchored on informed consent, with clear briefings on how stories, voices, and likenesses may be used. Driver-partners can opt out at any stage, and all AI-enabled outputs carry disclosures. Human review is built into the workflow to prevent distortion or loss of nuance.
The program aligns with the Venice Pledge on responsible AI in communications, reinforcing Grab’s stance that AI should remain an enabling scale tool for human-first, factual stories rather than a replacement for them. —Vanessa Hidalgo | Ed: Corrie S. Narisma
