The artificial intelligence Latin America SuMIT

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) along with other international organizations and universities are organizing the AI Latin American sumMIT to be held on January 21, 22 and 23, 2020 at MIT’s Media Lab in Boston, Massachusetts.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is developing rapidly around the world. Today AI is in every aspect of our lives, such as in voice recognition systems in smartphones or in personalized suggestions in an online store.

Countries like China, the United States, and the European Union members are leading the research and the adoption artificial intelligence and have implemented specific actions in their respective economic agendas to foster the diffusion of this technology. Worldwide companies’ leaders in the technology sector have declared AI as a fundamental technology for shaping its products.

Latin American countries have the capacity to harness the full potential of AI, however, due to social and economic limitations, little investment has been made in government, industry and research to advance in AI. This is a disadvantage, since AI is an important and fundamental technology in the fourth industrial revolution, and given its multipurpose nature, exponential power and predictive capacity could be an important tool to address various challenges that affect the development of the region.

In this context, the AI Latin American sumMit aims to raise awareness in the region about the transformational potential of AI. This initiative will bring leaders and key stakeholders from governments, industry and academia to share views, exchange knowledge, best practices and experiences. The goal of the sumMIT is to assess the AI ecosystem in Latin America, understand its current state and motivate cooperation about new AI-enabled initiatives to foster development.

The sumMIT will be centered in five of the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs): No Poverty, Good Health and Well-being, Quality Education, Sustainable Cities and Communities, Climate Action and Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. The sumMIT will enable a substantive debate on how to meet the SDGs through the use of AI systems.

Looking into the future, the sumMIT will be held annually, with its first meeting at MIT and the following years in a host Latin American country.