How AI is Reshaping Labor Markets in South America: Concerns and Opportunities

The world of Academia Introduction: From Farmers to Software Developers Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is changing labor markets world.

The deployment of AI technologies offers the GCC region economic and productivity opportunities on the one hand, and significant challenges of job displacement and increased inequalities on the other.

South American economies, which share an important informal economy sector and diverse levels of technology readiness, present a unique context of challenges and opportunities in the era of AI.

AI can facilitate those outcomes by automating routine functions in areas such as farming, manufacturing, and customer service, making certain processes more efficient and potentially cheaper to produce. AI-based systems may also increase productivity, such as in data analysis, diagnostics, and personalization.

a few analyses showed that AI could generate additional jobs in AI development, as data scientists, and in AI maintenance. And AI-based platforms can enhance matching, supplying workers more promptly with information on available jobs, including in the extensive informal economies that characterize much of South America.

For example, A.I. could grant informal workers access, establish digital identities, and remove language barriers as the World Economic Forum has pointed out.

But the fast ramp-up in AI creates worries about job displacement, especially among unskilled plays who perform the most repetitive tasks. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) adds that while advanced economies have higher potential for labor market disruption in the short-term, South America may also have a lower immediate risk due to its large informal sector, but could miss out on experiencing the full economic benefits of AI if it fails to adapt.

What is more, there is also the worry that AI would perpetuate the existing disparities. There is already evidence to support that workers with skills in AI are seeing increased employment opportunities and higher wages.

With insufficient investment in education and upskilling initiatives, a sizeable proportion of the South American population will be forgotten: the human, economic and social consequences could be considerable.

Bridge the AI skills gapThe AI need is clear. The following sections describe demands that learners are asking for and that governments and the private sector must increasingly come together to provide: opportunities to learn STEM, vocational training in AI-related areas of studies, and lifelong learning for an era for work.

Policies that enable more inclusive development of AI and that put safety nets and policies in place to support workers who are dislocated also will be critical to a just transition.

The way forward must balance how the potential of AI can drive economic growth and also reduce its risks. Strategic investments in critical areas – for example, in education, infrastructure and regulatory structures need to be made to enable South American labor markets to adjust to the AI revolution in a manner that is broadly beneficial. Failure to address this could foster growing inequality and a lost opportunity for sustained growth in the region.