Argentina's approach to AI: 'Let's not overregulate ourselves'

The Argentine government is looking to promote the country as an artificial intelligence (AI) hub in the region.

“Artificial intelligence is an opportunity. And that opportunity requires that the public and private sectors work together to understand the challenges that lie ahead, and second, so that these opportunities have a positive impact on the lives of Argentines,” innovation, science and technology secretary Darío Genua told BNamericas in an interview conducted during AI week in Buenos Aires this month.

Genua’s department is promoting the use of AI, including generative AI, at different levels of the State, including for document analysis and government chatbot Tina.

BNamericas: This administration has repeatedly expressed its interest in making Argentina a hub for AI. Could you comment on what the innovation, science and technology department (SICyT) is doing in this regard?

Genua: Well, one of the first actions is to promote this type of meeting with the private sector and with specialists in the field. Fortunately, each invitation sent has received a positive response.

On the other hand, since the beginning of the year we've been organizing a working group with the private sector on AI, chaired by the SICyT and coordinated jointly with the secretariat of strategic affairs of the cabinet office, who have been adopting the necessary measures for its operation and convening the different actors involved in the subject. This working group with the private sector includes the participation of local and multinational technology companies and there is one constant: they are all developing AI, so from each meeting we take away many insights and proposals for the State to address.

BNamericas: What advantages does Argentina have in becoming a hub for AI, and particularly for generative AI?

Genua: Argentina has a very robust technological ecosystem, with entrepreneurs with a business vision and trained workers. It's not for nothing that some of the main unicorns in Latin America – which are now conquering the world – such as Globant or Mercado Libre, were created in Argentina and became prestigious global brands. This, without a doubt, puts us in a good position to adopt and develop any of the branches of AI.

That said, we need to listen to entrepreneurs, study the market and its demands, and be strategic in the policies we apply. Public resources must be focused on the ecosystem reproducing itself, and this requires a lot of dialogue with the sector.

BNamericas: What do you think are the main challenges to accelerating AI adoption in Argentina?

Genua: We need to be strategic in the policies we deploy as a country around AI, since today we urgently need to promote its development to avoid being left behind in a world that’s rapidly advancing in that direction.

This same criterion must be applied to every area in which AI can provide us with substantial improvements, such as agriculture, biotechnology, energy, the knowledge economy and security, among others. Artificial intelligence is a fundamental tool to enhance them, and the State must contribute by generating a framework that encourages this application.

We have a good infrastructure base that has been developed by companies in the sector, and we must continue to improve connectivity, which will grow exponentially with 5G and satellite expansion, and on the other hand, we must promote the training of human resources in careers applied to the development of these technologies. The efforts of the public sector must be focused on the possibility of generating innovation and applied science. There is a possibility of developing businesses, increasing exports and generating foreign currency that's essential for the country.

BNamericas: How do you see the adoption of AI in the public sector? Does the department have any projects underway?

Genua: We have several projects underway and all of them are priorities. Just to name a few, we're working to incorporate generative AI into the [national government] chatbot Tina. The goal is to use language models to transform the conversational experience. This technology will allow us to offer highly personalized responses, adapted to the profile, needs and context of each user, as well as expanding multilingual capacity to ensure a more natural, inclusive and efficient interaction.

On the other hand, we're evaluating adding AI to automatically interpret the content of documents and robotic process automation to execute repetitive tasks, such as searching for information in systems, filling out forms and generating responses. In the case of the Mi Argentina app, this combination will streamline and automate the management of documents, processing them efficiently and reducing the time and human effort required.

On the other hand, the national office of information technologies is developing a platform based on generative artificial intelligence to optimize the management of exemption notes and technical opinions. The AI will automatically analyze and interpret the documents and will have an intuitive interface that will review classifications and provide feedback.

BNamericas: There are currently several regulatory bills related to AI in congress. What is your view of these initiatives?

Genua: Our position is to promote a cooperation agenda in which the State isn't an obstacle but a facilitator to promote the implementation of AI in the private sector.

We understand that, as has happened in other times of strong technological change, fears and doubts arise in society, but we should not think of the advance of artificial intelligence as a threat to be regulated but rather as an opportunity to be taken advantage of for the sake of development.

The world has several regulatory schemes, we're studying and following them all closely, but today we're at a preliminary stage, which is trying to understand where the technology is going and seeing how we can take advantage of its full potential. Let's not overregulate ourselves.