Delegations from more than 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean met in the Dominican Republic on 25–26 June for a ministerial summit on AI ethics. The meeting produced the Santo Domingo Declaration, an initiative supported by UNESCO and the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, and it makes the regional working group on AI ethics a permanent coordinating body.
The declaration sets a 2026–2027 roadmap built on five strategic pillars. These pillars are:
- governance and regulation;
- talent and the future of work;
- protection of vulnerable groups;
- environment, sustainability and climate change;
- infrastructure.
UNESCO’s head of AI ethics for Latin America said the roadmap must be "ambitious and operational" because countries vary in infrastructure and regulatory readiness, and because the region is highly unequal. Speakers highlighted concrete risks: rapid technology adoption can exceed institutional capacity, exposing women, Afro‑Caribbean and indigenous communities, informal workers and children to algorithmic bias, job displacement and environmental impacts from the energy needs of digital infrastructure. A professor noted that AI is a geopolitical issue and called for better digital literacy, while a specialist warned that generative AI makes it hard to separate true from false information. Planned actions include a playbook for disinformation incidents, an open course on AI skills, and training to include gender perspectives in public policy; the declaration also commits to annual ministerial summits to assess progress.
Difficult words
- delegation — group of officials representing a countryDelegations
- declaration — formal public statement of principles or intentionsSanto Domingo Declaration
- roadmap — plan that shows steps to reach goals
- pillar — main principle or area of focus in a planpillars
- governance — processes and rules guiding decision-making and control
- vulnerable — likely to be harmed or disadvantaged
- algorithmic bias — systematic unfairness produced by computer algorithms
- displacement — loss of work when jobs disappear or change
- disinformation — false or misleading information shared to deceive
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- Do you think making the regional working group a permanent coordinating body will improve national AI policies? Why or why not?
- Given differences in infrastructure and inequality, which of the five strategic pillars should receive the most funding in your country, and why?
- What practical measures could governments use to protect vulnerable groups from algorithmic bias and job displacement? Give examples.
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