Former national minister and current member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences of the Vatican, Gustavo Béliz, presented his new book “Atlas of Artificial Intelligence for the Human Development of Latin America and the Caribbean”, as part of a panel of experts that took place last Thursday, November 27, at the Cerrito headquarters of the Universidad AustralThe need to create a global regulatory framework linked to AI, the establishment of clear rules of the game, and a multidisciplinary approach that includes a social pact were some of the topics discussed.

How can Artificial Intelligence promote human development? How can it strengthen or undermine democracy? What effects does it have on productivity and employment? These and other questions were debated during the presentation of Gustavo Beliz's new book, Atlas of Artificial Intelligence for Human Development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Before a packed auditorium, the meeting - organized by the School of Government of the Universidad Austral, within the framework of Master in Public Policy and Diploma in Government 5.0– It was inaugurated by Gabriel Astarloa, dean of the Faculty of Law and Celina Cantú, vice dean and director of the master's program in Public Policy, who introduced the speakers.

Moderated by the director of the AI, Innovation and Government Observatory of the Universidad AustralJorge Vilas Díaz Colodrero, the panel included the Attorney General of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Province of Buenos Aires, Julio Conte Grand; the political analyst Enrique Zuleta Puceiro; the former director of the IDB's Intal, Ana Basco and the former Minister of Finance of Chile, Felipe Larrain, who participated virtually.

Beliz's book, which took more than two years to write, seeks to introduce the concept of the "AI Anthropocene" into the public debate. "We are all familiar with the concept of the Anthropocene; the effect that human activity has on the Earth's crust in climatic, environmental, and meteorological terms—everything we see in relation to classical climate change. What I realized after delving deeper into this topic is that artificial intelligence is causing a shift in eras, which is a sub-element of this Anthropocene and is related to multidimensional global technological warming," Beliz explained at the beginning of the presentation.

According to the author, AI is generating “ a technological warming that not only affects the Earth's crust, but above all, our minds, our brains. It impacts our cells, our genetic makeup, and carries the risk of generating the emergence of new species. In fact, we are living with a new agency, a new type of agency unlike anything that has occurred in other eras of humanity.”

Among other concepts, Beliz emphasized the importance of the social contract: “The worst thing we can do for artificial intelligence is to leave it on autopilot. The social contract matters. Dialogue between workers, employers, public authorities, and academia is crucial. Whether or not there will be mass unemployment, displacement, or job replacement will depend on the decisions made from the perspective of the added social value that artificial intelligence incorporates,” he asserted.

To conclude his presentation, Beliz quoted Saint John of the Cross: “Where there is no love, love must be put in order to draw out love.” “If there is no love in the design of AI, we have to put it in, put our best creative capacity into it for good. We have to ensure that these systems, from our personal use to public policy decisions, are geared toward rapid development, toward the great task that lies ahead. There is a very clear dilemma: either we are facing a technological Darwinism that will end up nullifying our capacity to be, to exist, or we are facing the enormous and also possible alternative of integral human development,” he concluded. 

Next, it was the panelists' turn. Basco emphasized that the work "establishes a position on a central issue, AI, in a forceful and passionate way, because it calls for action and is also normative. It is a technical and political book at the same time, and it has a philosophical soul."

Conte Grand then remarked that the book involved "a majestic, colossal task," in which " debates of humanity from previous years and decades are revisited from the perspective of artificial intelligence."

“When AI ceases to be artificial intelligence sapiens and becomes autonomous AI, we will no longer have a chance, and this depends on what is done in these early stages,” warned the Attorney General of Buenos Aires Province. He added: “Artificial intelligence doesn't stop for anyone. And I think it is very important that figures of Gustavo's caliber, with his professional stature, are alerting us to the need to disseminate sound doctrine.”

From Chile, Larrain stated that “there is still no clear assessment of what will happen with the effects of AI employment, but I dare say that artificial intelligence will destroy a significant number of jobs; and this job destruction requires action and public policies. We cannot leave these people to lose their jobs and be left to their own devices. Training and retraining policies are needed.”

Finally, Zuleta warned that today “the direction is not very clear, nor will it be, so we have to prepare for the most dire scenarios, as is happening to almost all democracies in the world.” “The situation today is one of conflict, given the paradox of globalization and the paradox of ignorance. The more we know, the more suspicion it breeds. Intelligence frightens. Intelligence generates suspicion,” he noted.

Along those lines, Zuleta indicated that “the horizon of artificial intelligence is one of responsibility. There we find the doomsayers, who are almost everyone, and the integrated ones, who believe in the enormous value of this concept. It is a new era, and now the systemic risks are much greater.”

During the event, the new Observatory of Artificial Intelligence, Innovation and Government was also presented to the public, within the framework of the School of Government of the Universidad Austral“The Observatory was born in the Universidad Austral “In response to the debate Gustavo raised about how to face this new era, we focused on establishing criteria. Our aim is not to become an academy where we teach how to create prompts or agents with the latest AI system, which quickly becomes obsolete, but rather to educate people in developing criteria, judgment, critical thinking, and the ability to use AI systems appropriately, because that is what will differentiate us as human beings from these machines. Otherwise, we will unwittingly become their slaves, as the philosopher Byung-Chul Han recently said,” explained its newly appointed director, Díaz Colodrero.