The first Latin American Artificial Intelligence (AI) Index was launched at ECLAC headquarters, in an event led by the Executive Secretary of the organization, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, the Minister of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation of Chile, Aisén Etcheverry, and representatives of international organizations, the private sector and academics.
It was also chaired by Aisén Etcheverry, Minister of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation of Chile, who offered a presentation on artificial intelligence and scientific development in Latin America, and Eve Andersson, Senior Director of Google Alphabet, in charge of a talk lecture called “The importance of AI for human development in Latin America”.
Artificial intelligence “is a topic that has great potential for bi-regional cooperation,” agreed Ewout Sandker. “One of the main fruits of the EU-CELAC Summit on July 17 and 18 was the European Union-Latin America and the Caribbean Digital Alliance, resulting in a joint commitment to promote a digital transformation with a focus on the human being” , He said.
“When we look at the regulatory challenges or the development of public policies, and we do so with a multilateral perspective, what we achieve are international standards that precisely help technology develop in a good way and that the values that support this technological development are also shared by countries and nations that we think alike. And that is a great contribution from this community around science and technology that has been generated not only in Chile but also in the rest of Latin America”, stressed, for her part, Minister Aisén Etcheverry.
“We are sure that the first Latin American Artificial Intelligence Index will be a tremendous contribution to the development of public policies, which adds to the shared effort that many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are making,” remarked the head of the Science portfolio. , Technology, Knowledge and Innovation of Chile.
During her speech, Eve Andersson, Senior Director of Google Alphabet, discussed the use of AI to create inclusive technology, giving several concrete examples. “At Google we have developed software in the areas of accessibility for people with disabilities and equity and inclusion,” said the representative, stressing that “technology can be used to overcome natural human biases,” including gender biases.
The first Latin American Artificial Intelligence Index was prepared by CENIA with the support of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), CAF-development bank of Latin America and the Caribbean and the Organization of American States (OAS), plus technical assistance from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Stanford HAI.
This is a pioneering study that reveals the situation of AI in 12 countries in the region: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Uruguay, Paraguay, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Brazil and Mexico, explained Álvaro Soto, Director CENIA, and Rodrigo Durán Rojas, Linking Director of the same institution.
Latin America is a region as diverse as its landscapes. There are countries with tremendous development of artificial intelligence at a relative level” and others where the same situation does not occur, said Rodrigo Durán. No country concentrates all the aspects that are considered essential in this index, but all have something to learn from the rest and all have something to teach the other, the representative emphasized. Mexico and Brazil concentrate about 95% of artificial intelligence patents, he exemplified.
There is a very close correlation between the enabling factors and relative performance at the regional level, Durán revealed. For this reason, the attention of public policies and international cooperation organizations should be focused on the enabling factors to achieve a faster, more sustainable and fair development of artificial intelligence systems, he summarized.
The event included a panel discussion on the need to move towards a vision of its own regarding the benefits and threats of AI, its link with digital transformation agendas, and its productive, social, and institutional impact.