en.Wedoany.com Reported - A study by the World Economic Forum shows that the application of artificial intelligence could transform Latin America's economic growth model, which has long relied on labor expansion rather than productivity gains. The report, submitted this Tuesday (9th) in Rio de Janeiro, estimates that if countries in the region invest in implementing structural measures, the use of AI could boost their productivity by 1.9% to 2.3% annually by 2030.
The study, titled "Latin America in the Intelligent Age" (América Latina na Era Inteligente), was conducted by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with the consulting firm McKinsey & Company. It notes that this efficiency gain could inject between $1.1 trillion and $1.7 trillion into the region's economy annually. This progress is seen as crucial at a time when the so-called "demographic dividend"—the growth of the working-age population—is beginning to fade in many major Latin American countries.
The study indicates that achieving this result requires changes. One key change is training professionals to operate new systems or integrate them with legacy systems through AI. Researchers point out that the region is increasingly becoming a hub for exporting technical services to multinational corporations, driving up wages and making it difficult for local small and medium-sized enterprises to retain qualified talent. Another need is investment in infrastructure and energy supply to support advanced AI models that require massive data processing capabilities, particularly in heavy industries such as mining and industrialized agriculture. The report warns that if these bottlenecks are not addressed, AI-driven productivity gains may be limited to large cities or multinational companies, exacerbating productivity inequality.
Researchers also note a significant gap between current enthusiasm for the technology and actual financial returns: only 23% of organizations in the region generate economic value from AI, and just 6% report creating "significant" value. The study shows that most businesses still use AI in a fragmented manner, focusing on standalone tools like text assistants or code generators, rather than redesigning business models based on the technology. The survey highlights the financial services sector as a major exception, using AI for credit analysis of the informal population and advanced fraud prevention systems. Beyond finance, the report indicates that manufacturing and logistics are emerging as the next major value frontiers in the region. Applying predictive AI in supply chains and heavy machinery maintenance could reduce operational costs in these industries by up to 15%.
Another finding of the survey is the so-called "sustainability paradox" facing the region. Researchers state that although Latin America has one of the cleanest electricity grids in the world, current transmission infrastructure is not yet ready to support the explosive growth of new data centers required by AI. The study emphasizes that countries capable of directly integrating renewable energy into data processing centers over the coming decades will attract the majority of global technology investments.
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