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Artificial Intelligence
Will the bots destroy Latin American jobs?
Initial analysis of worldwide adoption of AI has led to worries that millions of jobs currently performed by humans may be automated and, in effect, taken over by AI. According to a UN Department of Trade and Development (Unctad) report published in April 2025, 40% of global jobs will be impacted in some way by AI over the next decade. The report says that four mechanisms will be at work: first, human workers may be replaced; second, what they do may be complemented by AI; third, automation may be deepened; and fourth, new human jobs may be created. The net effect of these different forces is not necessarily clear. Unctad notes that giant digital companies in the global north favour building up capital, which improves efficiency and could undermine the traditional comparative advantage of the global south – cheaper human labour.
- Introduction
- The slow-burn rise in AI
- Case studies: what is AI being used for in LAC?
- Is Latin America ready?
- The opportunity and risks of AI
- AI in LAC, as seen by ChatGPT.
- Quantifying the gains
- Will the bots destroy Latin American jobs?
- The big AI obstacle in LAC: labour informality
- The DeepSeek challenge
- The promise of Latam-GPT
- Rising data centre energy demand
- The European strategy
- Latin America faces regulatory challenges
- Brazil: pushing new legislation
- Mexico: slow development
- Chile: leader in regulation
- Argentina: seeking low regulation to attract investors
- Colombia: more than half the country’s companies are investing in AI
- Conclusion – a game of high stakes