The development of artificial intelligence (AI) is changing our daily lives whether we realize it or not: from the food on our plates to the apps we use to pay for it and the workouts we sweat through to stay in shape afterwards. Most of the time, AI is invisible to us. But beyond our day-to-day lives, the rapid adoption of AI is driving policy discussions and decisions around the globe. Governments face calls to foster the development of AI and increase investment in the technology to achieve a national competitive advantage while at the same time regulating it, and -- in some cases -- limiting its use.

Faced with competing demands, governments worldwide have created national AI policies to balance these priorities and guide the development and use of the technology. The U.S. issued its first AI strategic plan in 2016. In 2018, Mexico issued a national AI strategy, becoming one of only 10 countries to have done so at the time and the first in Latin America. However, while Mexico’s strategy was praised as a collaborative, multi-stakeholder effort when it launched, a shift in government priorities slowed momentum and stunted some of the early gains, highlighting the importance and necessity of including a wide range of actors in shaping and implementing AI policy. Mexico’s experience holds significant lessons for policymakers.

Join us on January 19 for a wide-ranging discussion with AI leaders in California and Mexico. Hear the inside story on the creation of Latin America’s first national AI policy: what worked, what went wrong, and where the policy stands now. We’ll also explore the global discussion around “responsible AI” and ethics, international policy on AI, and how the U.S. and Mexico are and will continue to collaborate as work on AI continues forward.

Featuring:

Claudia Del Pozo, Executive Director, EON Resilience Lab, C Minds

Claudia del Pozo is the Executive Director of the Eon Resilience Lab at C Minds, a women-led Mexican innovation agency that promotes a responsible approach to tech for impact in Latin America. In addition to her work strengthening Mexico’s AI agenda (including the publication of Mexico’s National AI Strategy in 2019) and the formulation of evidence-based policy recommendations on AI systems to regulators, she is now exploring the potential of the Metaverse in Latam. Together with key partners, including Meta, the IDB, and the British Embassy, Claudia is drafting recommendations for the region’s regulators on privacy in the Metaverse, gathering Latam’s views on the platform from local leaders, and carrying out a pilot project to understand the Metaverse’s potential for education. She also led a project with 20+ regional experts to explore the Metaverse from a Latin American perspective. She is also continuing her focus on AI by working with national governments to carry out policy prototypes with the local AI industry on topics ranging from transparency and explainability to Privacy Enhancing Technologies.

She has co-authored several reports and policy recommendations to promote the digitization and responsible use of data and AI in Latam, a book on Open Banking, and is a TEDx speaker. She was recognized as a key component of the Mexican AI ecosystem by the Women in AI Awards 2022 and was a finalist in the Responsible AI Leader category.

Carlos Ignacio Gutierrez, Artificial Intelligence Policy Researcher, Future of Life Institute

Carlos Ignacio Gutierrez is a recent graduate of the Pardee RAND Graduate School and a postdoctoral researcher at RAND. His dissertation explored how technological advances catalyze scenarios where the policies executed by government are no longer appropriate to confront the issues faced by society, otherwise known as regulatory gaps. Via the compilation of case studies, his work identifies the characteristics of these gaps and extracts lessons for future policymakers. At RAND, he was involved in multidisciplinary research that explores the nexus of technology and policy. For example, he researched the effect of autonomous and connected vehicles on existing and new externalities for a report commissioned by the Transportation Research Board, explored liability in the sharing economy, and coordinated an NIH-funded RCT that uses mobile phones to monitor HIV Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) and test social norms on ART adherence, among others.

Prior to RAND, he was a program manager at Fundacion IDEA in Mexico City where he worked with the Mexican government in designing and implementing its National Innovation Plan. While at IDEA, Gutierrez also co-authored several publications on intellectual property rights, small and medium enterprise (SME) policies, and competitiveness. In addition, he consulted for the Central American Bank for Economic Integration in Honduras. In this position, he worked with the board of directors in the analysis of over US$1.5 billion in loans for infrastructure projects.

Moderating:

Nicholas Wolf, Mexico Initiative Fellow, Pacific Council on International Policy

Nick Wolf is a social entrepreneur, regenerative farmer and community development practitioner based on the southern Pacific coast of Mexico. At the Pacific Council, Nick works as the Mexico Initiative Fellow, where he supports efforts to promote stronger ties between Mexico and the U.S., build awareness, and share a more nuanced understanding of Mexico. Nick’s responsibilities include the U.S.-Mexico Security Cooperation Project, which seeks to use the relationship between migration, armed violence, and cross-border arms trafficking to advance security cooperation. Nick has lived and worked in Mexico for more than a decade, starting, growing, and managing businesses and organizations in organic and regenerative agriculture and the local food movement. In 2021, he started an agroecological farm in Zihuatanejo, Guerrero.

He also serves as a board member for three community-based nonprofit organizations, working in the local economy, regenerative food, ocean conservation and citizen science sectors. Previously, Nick spent 10 years as a freelance researcher and contributor at the Economist Intelligence Unit. He holds bachelor’s degrees in Broadcast Journalism and Spanish from the University of Missouri as well as MBA and Master of Science in Foreign Service degrees from Georgetown University. Nick served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Honduras from 2006 to 2008 and has also worked and studied in Peru and Spain. Originally from Oklahoma, Nick connected deeply with Mexico after a weeks-long motorcycle trip across the country, returning to work in the country after finishing graduate school.

‍