For Jaime Saavedra, director of Human Development at the organization, technology is an opportunity to advance more quickly. “We cannot afford to wait for everything to be perfect before starting with the integration of AI,” says the expert.

Continuous assessment, automation, personalisation, independence, better time and information management, creative stimulation… With the rapid adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in virtually all areas of human life, one of the ecosystems most susceptible to growth and development is that of education .

AI has arrived to transform the face of production in Latin America and the Caribbean. Currently, between 2 and 5% of jobs are on the threshold of total automation, between 8 and 14% could become more productive by adopting a self-generating intelligence tool, and between 26 and 38% are exposed to AI. This is according to the study Buffer or bottleneck? Occupational exposure to generative AI and the digital divide in Latin America, prepared by the World Bank and the International Labor Organization.

For Latin America, this brings back a pending discussion about how to take advantage of these moments of technological inflection, since although the region has taken firm steps in the development of talent and infrastructure, the challenge remains to close the gap, in conjunction with global leaders in AI.

According to the Latin American Artificial Intelligence Index ( ILIA 2024 ), developed jointly by ECLAC and CENIA, in an evaluative range of one hundred possible points, Chile leads the ranking with 73.07 points, followed by Brazil (69.30) and Uruguay (64.98), nations that have implemented solid national strategies aimed at the integration of AI technologies in diverse sectors.

If implemented correctly, in a regulated, affordable and measurable way, AI offers the opportunity to improve teaching and student achievement in the region, thanks to tools that enhance the educational experience. Cases such as Ecuador - where a tutoring program with artificial intelligence guided by teachers achieved substantial improvements in mathematics - or Uruguay, where guidelines have been developed so that the use of AI respects local teaching methods at a controlled pace.

Leveraging innovation and overcoming crises

In its report The Artificial Intelligence Revolution in Education: What You Need to Know, the World Bank highlights nine strategic AI-driven innovations for the region, focused on teaching, students, and administration: mentoring to improve attraction and retention, lesson plans, automated routines, tutoring, task assignments, alerts for proactivity detection, among others.

According to the study, for AI to truly improve the quality of educational experiences, it must first consider:

1) That connectivity is affordable and reaches everyone;

2) Ensure continued investment in AI-enabled tools and equipment so that teachers can better leverage technology, and

3 ) AI literacy should be gradually incorporated into the curricula of all subjects, while the tools facilitate their own learning.

Although various educational centers in Latin America are already relying on some programs and tools with AI features focused on learning - DreamBox, Khanmigo, Quillionz, Socratic, Google Classroom, among others - the truth is that the full and comprehensive adoption of this trend still requires an exhaustive review, which although it is considered urgent, cannot ignore an ethical and effective pedagogical approach, which considers aspects such as the specific needs of each nation, the type of schools, the context of the students, among others.

For Jaime Saavedra, director of Human Development for Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Bank, technology has the potential to equalize opportunities, empower teachers, personalize learning, optimize school management and improve student outcomes. However, the director points out that given the highly heterogeneous conditions in the region - where students who use Chat GPT coexist with others who do not even have a computer - AI also runs the risk of becoming a factor of inequality.

 

According to the Programme for International Student Assessment ( PISA ), in Latin America, before the pandemic, more than half (52%) of ten-year-old students were unable to read and understand a simple text. Meanwhile, in secondary school, three out of four 15-year-olds are below the basic level of proficiency in mathematics, reflecting one of the greatest learning crises of the last century.

Where to start and how to speed up the pace to close technological gaps? Experts are inclined to call for a strong investment in the basic elements to obtain the best results: attracting teachers and improving the quality of their training, materials, infrastructure and connectivity. With the human approach at the forefront - which seeks to enrich and strengthen human work, not replace it - educational AI would have to be articulated in an ethical and democratic way, with the involvement of all social actors (mainly governments, schools and private initiative) to make it sustainable over time.

In this regard, Jaime Saavedra is emphatic: “Doing the minimum well and for everyone is still an urgent and indispensable task and there is no excuse for public systems in Latin America not to ensure this; we must advance in the integration of AI where possible. And this requires a highly qualified teaching force, an enabling digital ecosystem - that is, with the necessary conditions of digital infrastructure and human capabilities, digital skills - curricula prepared for AI,” underlines the World Bank director, who emphasizes that for this, a proactive approach is essential at all times: “building on the fly, but in a strategic and balanced way.”

RICARDO PINEDA . El Pais , Spain 23 JAN 2025