Latin America joins global AI regulations race as threats grow
MEXICO CITY, (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - As Europe, the United States and China set the pace in the global race to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) tools, Latin America will be next to take action, said the senator leading Mexico's push to govern the technology's use.
Sen. Alejandra Lagunes heads Mexico's National Artificial Intelligence Alliance, set up by Congress last April to help the country reap economic benefits from AI's development while also limiting its potential harms - from election disinformation to digital sexual harassment.
In Mexico, which currently has no AI regulations, she said it would be crucial to strike the right balance between the technology's pros and cons, and pursue an AI strategy "that will take us from consumers to developers."
"Regulating based on fear can halt innovation and the possibility of leveling the ground between Mexico and other countries from the Global South with the big tech developers in the Global North," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an interview.
AI could yield job opportunities for Mexican software engineers to develop tools that solve local needs - from healthcare
to public safety, and the technology that powers them, Lagunes added.
"There is great opportunity in developing microchips and the platforms necessary for artificial intelligence," she said.
At least eight countries in Latin America have introduced legislation to regulate AI, with Brazil moving forward on some of the most comprehensive bills.
Mexico is also looking to Chile, where neurorights are protected in the law as a response to technologies that scan, analyze and sell mental data.