Invest in people first, Inclusive AI will follow

From governance to food delivery services, new technology continues to rapidly shape Latin America as more sectors find applications for artificial intelligence. Now is the time to invest in people. While many worry about the impact on jobs, others are equally concerned about jobs going unfilled. What if we channeled that sense of urgency and people-focused concern into people-centered action?

We're all in this digital transition together and we need to ensure no one gets left behind while job openings are available. According to a World Bank Enterprise Survey, 10 percent more companies in Latin America have trouble finding skilled workers than in the rest of the world. In addition, without reskilling on a global scale, a McKinsey study predicts significant skilled labor shortages in the US, Europe and China. According to the same study, over 65 percent of executives in high-earning corporations put reskilling in their top-ten priority list.

Learn by Example, Address a Gap, and Create Widespread Opportunity

What does investment in education and reskilling look like? How are other parts of the world tackling this challenge, and how can we learn from them? In Singapore, the Digital Maker Programme works to prepare young people less as consumers and more as solution-oriented creative thinkers. Germany and Sweden have something to teach us as countries at the highest end of the spectrum for number of robots and lowest for unemployment. In Australia, The National Skills Program focuses on upgrading the skill set and technology readiness of the current workforce and other groups at risk of being left behind. Across the globe and in Latin America, Microsoft Showcase Schools offer rich learning experiences and access to technology and certifications which help grow additional skills for youth in the future.  

Latin America’s large youth population is a great advantage and opportunity for us as a region. It is important that we invest in education for Latin American youth and reskilling for our workforce now, in order to create three levels of future opportunities: individual, regional and global. Individual opportunities come in the form of more engaging work, like at the marketing agency Hogarth México where AI sorts and labels video freeing up people to do more complex tasks. These local opportunities translate into regional economic growth, like we’ve seen with the rapidly growing Latin American fintech market. Global opportunities lead to important advances in such areas as safety, logistics, environmental protection, food production, governance, and healthcare like advances that bring good basic clinical care to people in remote places.

Bringing More People Along Makes the Technology Better

In addition to solving unemployment and labor shortage problems, investing in our communities encourages collaboration from everyone – the general public, government, business, and more sectors. This collaboration distributes the prosperity brought by AI more widely. Not only that, but the more diverse and inclusive our workforce is, the better AI will be in serving our many and diverse needs. This kind of access and transparency also increases public knowledge and trust, which is necessary if we want to move AI forward in comprehensive, open and ethical ways, such as when deciding what is important to include in a “smart city” like what they hope to achieve in Guadalajara, Mexico.

At the 2018 World Economic Forum nearly a year ago, global leaders and the private sector framed the reskilling issue as a global revolution that could inspire us to think about the future "practically and holistically." Specifically, they talked about giving options to individuals to "build a good life." As a region, I think we’re ripe for this kind of thinking and leadership. Do you agree? How do we further this people-first momentum here in Latin America and then support it with an investment strategy that secures our collective future?