Latin America and Argentina far behind in artificial intelligence
As artificial intelligence (AI) advances at unprecedented speed, it becomes essential to address its challenges to ensure that its impacts translate into public value creation and technology investments. What situation are we in in Latin America and Argentina?
The artificial intelligence (AI) revolution is shaking the pillars of the world, but Latin America is still looking for its place in this new era. While the epicenter of technological advancement lies in the northern hemisphere, our nations face a considerable gap in terms of investments, discoveries and debates about the future. According to the recent Global AI Index, the United States leads the ranking followed by China and Singapore, while Latin America barely manages to place itself in 35th place, with Brazil at the top, followed by Chile (41) and Colombia (48). Argentina, unfortunately, is in position 49. The Global AI Index is based on 111 indicators collected from 28 public and private data sources, as well as 62 different governments. These are divided into seven sub-pillars: talent, infrastructure, operating environment, research, development, government and commercial strategy.
The question, then, is what the region and our country should do to reach international standards and take advantage of the advantages of incorporating AI for sustainable development. The answer lies in the capacity of the State, which must propose a strategic vision, effective regulations and coordination with the private sector and civil society that allow investing and developing the necessary strategies for innovation and growth.
As Cecilia Danesi, a lawyer specializing in AI, mentions, the absence of specific regulation makes it difficult to develop a digital ecosystem that uses AI safely. For this reason, the United States and the European Union (EU) are taking the first steps in creating a regulatory framework. Along these lines, in 2023 the Latin American Center for Development Administration (CLAD) presented the Ibero-American Charter on Artificial Intelligence in Public Administration, which was coordinated by Ignacio Criado, an academic reference for AI in Spain, while the Argentine State published the Recommendations for Reliable Artificial Intelligence seeking to frame the use of AI from an ethical perspective.
But beyond regulations, Latin American States must take advantage of the window of opportunity that opens to them and rise to the challenges, establishing a regional strategy to create solid state capacities, effective linkages and the construction of a collaborative ecosystem. This is achieved by training specialized professionals, with collaboration between governments, industries and academia, which results in the construction of a diverse AI ecosystem and feeds an efficient value chain for the design and analysis of public policies.
If we look in detail at the results of the index for each Latin American country, we see resources and fertile ground to advance the development of AI, but without a regional strategy to create an ecosystem that allows feedback, it will be very difficult to achieve international standards and We will continue running behind development, like a goal that moves away in a bad dream.
