Inria Chile publishes a Position Paper with a roadmap for AI in Latin America

Artificial Intelligence is a great opportunity to support and accelerate the development of Latin America and, at the same time, the region can be a relevant contribution to the global development of this technology; but, at the same time, it can exacerbate the problems of inequality in our countries. This is the main message of the side event "AI in Latin America", organized by Inria Chile in the framework of the GPAI Paris Summit 2021 and where the Position Paper "A Roadmap for AI in Latin America" was presented, which seeks to promote Artificial Intelligence and its development as a positive factor for the development of Latin America. The slides presented during the side event by the panelists are available here.

The Position Paper has as authors those who participated in the last GPAI global meeting: Nayat Sánchez-Pi, CEO of Inria Chile; Luis Martí, Scientific Director of Inria Chile; Ana Bicharra García from Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro; Ricardo Baeza-Yates from Northeastern University, Universidad Pompeu Fabra and Universidad de Chile; Marley Vellasco from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Río de Janeiro; Carlos Coello, from Centro de Investigación de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional de México. The Position Paper is available for free download at the event's website.

"A Roadmap for AI in Latin America" captures the experiences and realities of different countries in the region, such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay. As indicated by its title, it provides a roadmap that consolidates the discussions held by the authors on how AI research and policy formulation can be directed towards topics and applications that enhance socioeconomic progress in Latin America and improve the quality of life for its inhabitants.

In an interview published in The Magazine, the newspaper of GPAI in Paris, Nayat Sánchez-Pi further emphasized, "The potential for the development of AI and machine learning is very high in Latin America. It is crucial for technological development to transform this region into a knowledge-based economy. However, we must be extremely cautious: while AI can solve the problem of underdevelopment in the region, in the absence of sufficient democratization of population access to digital technologies, it can also exacerbate inequalities."

In the same vein, the other authors of the paper agree that Latin America is a favorable and promising place to develop artificial intelligence, as many countries are reacting and defining national strategies for such technologies. There was consensus that limitations and inequities exist, and therefore, collaborative work and the definition of a roadmap are necessary to foster regional cooperation in AI development.

The document explains that taking action on these issues is urgent, as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is likely to slow down these changes, and it is the role of researchers and academia as a whole to propose advances and guide the process. Thus, it seeks to "plant the seed of a discussion on how to create positive and inclusive momentum with existing conditions, identifying the main obstacles that need to be addressed and how they can be overcome through joint work between AI professionals, academia, decision makers and citizens."