AI Could Add 5.1% to Latin America’s GDP, but Workers Face a Much Harder Calculation

Organised with the Americas Society/Council of the Americas and Bicycle Capital, it included senior figures from Google, Anthropic, Microsoft, Nvidia and Meta, connecting public policy discussions with companies involved in developing and deploying AI.

Artificial intelligence could give Latin America and the Caribbean a significant economic lift over the next decade, with the scale of that progress depending on how widely the technology reaches businesses, public services and workers. At a meeting convened by the Inter-American Development Bank Group on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, government leaders and technology executives discussed a shared regional roadmap for safe AI adoption, bringing investment decisions and the practical challenges of preparing workers into the same conversation.

A Regional Plan Built Around Everyday Adoption

Representatives from The Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname and Uruguay joined the discussion, which called for a regional mechanism built around a common strategy and joint investment guidelines. The foundations under discussion included institutions and regulation, talent and skills, digital infrastructure and data systems, alongside ways to spread technology across governments, firms and workers and address the risks that come with its use.

The meeting brought together the presidents of Chile, the Dominican Republic, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname and Uruguay, alongside Colombia's vice president and ministers from the other participating countries. Organised with the Americas Society/Council of the Americas and Bicycle Capital, it included senior figures from Google, Anthropic, Microsoft, Nvidia and Meta, connecting public policy discussions with companies involved in developing and deploying AI.

The Difference Between 5.1% Growth and 0.3%

The economic stakes emerge in findings from the forthcoming IDB flagship report, "From Digitalization to Artificial Intelligence: Turning Promises into Productivity," scheduled for publication in November as the 2026 edition of the Development in the Americas series. Its scenarios suggest that broad AI adoption combined with large improvements in labour productivity could raise regional GDP by 5.1% after a decade; limited adoption and smaller productivity improvements would deliver an increase of just 0.3%.

Those figures describe possible outcomes under different conditions, making the reach and effectiveness of adoption central to the region's economic prospects. The report argues that potential gains will depend on policy choices made today and countries' ability to expand AI use across the public and private sectors. Measurable results are already emerging through applications that reduce exclusion errors in social protection programmes, improve public safety outcomes and increase worker productivity, offering practical examples of where the technology can make a difference.

Workers' Ability to Change Jobs Will Shape the Gains

For workers, the report's findings carry a more personal consequence: wages could increase by 2.3% to 5.3% over a decade if people can move into expanding areas of employment, but could fall by 13.5% to 20.9% if they cannot. The contrast puts worker mobility at the centre of the discussion, underscoring the importance of policies that help people adapt as opportunities change. Training and skills development matter because a growing economy does not automatically mean that workers can access the jobs benefiting from new technology.

The private-sector participants included Alphabet and Google president and CIO Ruth Porat, Anthropic chief global affairs officer Mariano-Florentino "Tino" Cuéllar, Microsoft Global Affairs president Lisa Monaco, Nvidia chief external affairs officer Bruce Andrews and Meta global policy head Kevin Martin. Executives from Brightstar Capital Partners, Bicycle Capital, Dream and Panthalassa also attended. The shared roadmap discussed at the meeting ties investment and responsible adoption to a demanding test for the region: whether governments and businesses can turn AI's potential into productivity gains that workers have a realistic chance to share.