Where Artificial Intelligence Could Take Latin America, According to Marian Vidaurri

Where Artificial Intelligence Could Take Latin America, According to Marian Vidaurri

Can a region fully join a technological revolution while basic structural needs remain unmet?

The question runs through much of the debate over artificial intelligence in Latin America, and it anchors the analysis of political scientist and economist Marian Vidaurri, who approaches the subject from a structural angle, wary of both automatic techno-optimism and alarmism.

Dr. Vidaurri holds a doctorate in international relations and brings 20 years of experience in democratic governance, public policy and multilateral institutions across Latin America and the Caribbean. Since August 2025 she has served as a Research Associate at the Cornell Center on Democracy at Cornell University, where she develops research projects on democracy along with civic education and participation programs. She also teaches as a Lecturer in Democracy and Public Policy at Cornell’s Washington, DC campus.

Born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico, Vidaurri earned a bachelor’s degree in government and economics from Cornell University in 2003, a master’s degree in Latin American studies from the University of Oxford in 2006 and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Pennsylvania in 2016. She completed her doctoral studies at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

Her fellowship year adds another academic thread. During the 2025/26 academic year she is the inaugural fellow of the Latin American Studies Initiative (LASI) at SAIS, returning to the school where she trained as a researcher, and since 2017 she has volunteered with the nonprofit Centro de Cultura, Arte, Trabajo y Educación (CCATE) in Norristown, Pennsylvania.

In her reading, Latin America occupies a secondary place on the global map of artificial intelligence. Innovation leadership sits in the United States and, increasingly, in China, while regulatory frameworks advance mainly out of the European Union. Limited investment in research and development, weak digital infrastructure and education systems that cannot yet train specialized talent at the required scale help explain the peripheral position.

Marian Vidaurri points to roads, power grids and broadband as the first hurdle

Material conditions sit at the center of her analysis. She notes that historical deficits in transportation, sanitation and energy supply limit how far countries can integrate complex technologies, since advanced solutions face obstacles that technical knowledge or software alone cannot resolve.

Public finances add a second layer of difficulty. Fragile budgets narrow the room governments have for sustained innovation strategies, so technological development tends to fall on private companies and foreign capital. Recurring governance problems, limited transparency and administrative weakness, she warns, create uncertainty that discourages long-term investors from committing to technology-intensive sectors.

Connectivity completes the picture. Unequal internet access shapes both everyday use of artificial intelligence tools and local ability to build homegrown solutions. The number of connected households has risen steadily, yet the distance from OECD countries remains wide, and income level and geography widen it further, leaving large groups outside the digital economy.

Finance and online retail move first, while manual jobs face the greatest exposure

Uptake is likely to begin where digitization already exists. According to Marian Vidaurri, the pattern produces uneven progress, because early gains concentrate in specific niches and take time to reach the wider productive fabric. Financial services and e-commerce show the greatest potential for early transformation, with room for better operational efficiency, data analysis and tailored offers.

Inequality adds constant tension to the regional debate. Artificial intelligence can widen access to essential services, support education models that fit students better and inform public policy with data. In her view, however, closing gaps depends less on the tools themselves than on the structural decisions that accompany their rollout and on how fully people take part in the digital economy.

Labor markets carry their own risk. Automation threatens manual jobs, and the lack of retraining programs and social protection amplifies that exposure. Because the informal sector weighs so heavily in Latin America, a large share of economic activity will probably stay outside the advances over the short and medium term.

Flexible rules, algorithmic bias and polarization frame the governance debate

Regulation looks especially complicated for governments. The political scientist argues for flexible frameworks that encourage integrated adoption, foster talent training and guarantee digital inclusion. Such goals coexist with unresolved problems like missing basic infrastructure and persistent informal economies, which cap the reach of any technology policy.

A recent World Economic Forum report, Latin America in the Intelligent Age: A New Path for Growth, concludes that artificial intelligence could raise productivity in the region by 2% a year and add US$1.7 trillion in value to its economies. The report adds that the tangible benefits have yet to materialize and that challenges persist in infrastructure, good governance and labor regulation frameworks.

Bias and polarization bring a further dimension to the public conversation. Artificial intelligence mirrors the data it receives and can magnify existing social tensions. Where politics is highly polarized, irresponsible use of the tools can sharpen conflict, particularly on social media, and manipulation of algorithms by state and non-state actors may trigger political and social crises.

Viewed as a cross-cutting component of the global economy, artificial intelligence makes governance, transparency and accountability pressing topics, according to Marian Vidaurri. How governments and societies handle them will determine whether adoption in Latin America turns into lasting benefits or deepens existing gaps over the long run.

Daniel Hall is an experienced digital marketer, author and world traveller. He spends a lot of his free time flipping through books and learning about a plethora of topics.