How AI-ready is Latin America?

Although Latin America has made strides in the development of artificial intelligence, difficulties in accessing data processing infrastructure, connectivity and open data still need to be overcome.

“It is essential to continue developing physical infrastructure in the region,” the EU's ambassador to Chile, Claudia Gintersdorfer, said during the presentation of an AI index developed by Chilean non-profit Cenia and the UN's Economic Commission for Latin America & the Caribbean.

The index is available here, in Spanish.

It shows that Uruguay, Chile, Costa Rica and Brazil are the only countries in the region with high infrastructure capacity, and that Chile, Uruguay and Brazil have the highest connectivity levels.

Participants at the event urged solving a shortage of computing centers and advocated for the generation of human capital, regulation to promote innovation and improved data management.

According to the index, the private AI ecosystem is still in its infancy.

“There is not much presence of artificial intelligence in the private sector,” Cenia president Rodrigo Durán said.

Most countries are lagging in terms of company creation and private investment, with Chile, Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina being the most mature countries.

Public policies to accelerate AI are also lacking. “There is a lot of desire and interest, but there is no sense of urgency,” he added.

But Durán also highlighted that 38 bills are being debated across the region, although a common regulatory vision does not exist.

REGIONAL AI

Cenia director Álvaro Soto said the first large-scale language model created in Latin America and fed by regional data should be launched later this year.

On its limitations related to cultural specificities, he said: "If we ask a language model today about literature in Chile, all the books were written by [Pablo] Neruda."

In this sense, the development of an AI model is part of efforts at achieving technological sovereignty. A second version of the model is expected to be launched in the middle of next year.

LEADERS

This second edition of the AI index prioritized open and auditable secondary sources, as well as weighting different elements. It divides countries into pioneers, adopters and explorers.

Chile leads the first group with 73.07 of 100 points, followed by Brazil with 69.30 and Uruguay with 64.98.

Chile also leads in the dimensions of enabling factors, research, governance, development and adoption. It has a solid AI research ecosystem, appropriate technological infrastructure, AI policies, a regulatory and ethical framework and talent.

Argentina is fourth in the general ranking and leads the adopters, with 55.77 points, followed by Colombia (52.64), the Dominican Republic (51.40), Mexico (46.85), Peru (45.52), Costa Rica (43.63), Panama (37.48) and Ecuador (34.59).

In the explorers category, Jamaica is first, followed by Venezuela, Paraguay, Cuba, Bolivia, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

The regional R&D and adoption average is 47.4 points. Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and Mexico achieved scores of 79.17, 75.21, 66.68 and 66.20.

Brazil and Uruguay lead in the innovation and development category, which measures how countries are contributing to the development of open technologies. They are followed by Chile and Mexico.

Chile accounts for most AI publications and most active researchers.

Meanwhile, Brazil has most AI research centers with seven, followed by Argentina with six, Chile and Mexico with five each and Peru with three.

Brazil leads R&D expenditures as a proportion of GDP, spending 1.17%.

Mexico leads in the number of AI patents with 4.22 per million citizens, followed by Brazil with 3.84.

According to the index, AI talent has doubled in the last eight years, but no country has reached the levels of industrialized countries, which, in addition, often attract talent from Latin America.

ADOPTION

Mexico leads adoption with 94.56 points, followed by Brazil with 90.27, Argentina with 73.36 and Chile with 72.66.

The industrial sectors of Mexico and Brazil achieved adoption scores of 96.28 and 83.78, followed by Colombia (63.50), Argentina (62.10) and Chile (59.52). The regional average is 54.64, according to the index.