Widening the divide, reloading dependency: the political economy of data and AI capability building in Latin America

The availability of data and AI-based applications has increased in recent years, but the people with the skills to use these technologies remain limited. To fill this gap, several Latin American universities and training centres have expanded their academic offerings on data and AI in recent years. Based on a bibliometric analysis, a hundred in-depth interviews with experts from Ecuador, Chile, and Mexico, and an extensive documentary analysis of academic programmes and public policy initiatives in these countries, this paper aims to identify and characterize the capability building processes in Latin America. Our results show the growing asymmetries in the production and distribution of knowledge and know-how on big data and artificial intelligence in the world and in the region. These emerging asymmetries are leading to a steady transfer of resources and professionals trained by Latin American public institutions to national and transnational private companies, updating old structures of dependency.