AI: An Opportunity for Public Employment in Latin America

As technology advances in developed countries, the specter of job replacement by artificial intelligence (AI) and automation is gradually fading, and opportunities that can be seized in both the public and private sectors are becoming more evident.

AI has the potential to transform the way governments operate and engage with citizens. A study carried out by CAF—development bank of Latin America—highlights three possible effects: the possibility of extending public organization work by processing large amounts of data in a very short time; work optimization, given that AI frees up workers’ time and contributes to improving quality by performing repetitive tasks, reducing costs and expediting processes; and lastly, adding value or doing things differently to get the most benefit from people and machines.

“The evaluation carried out to measure the degree of readiness for AI adoption in the public sector led us to conclude that the three countries analyzed are at an intermediate level (Chile 42%, Colombia 57%, and Uruguay 54%). All of them boast significant advances in the development of favorable policy environments for AI adoption in public employment. The biggest challenges are estimating the expected impact of AI on public employment; reviewing state structures and roles, diagnosing and developing AI and fourth industrial revolution (4IR) skills with public officials, and organizational cultural change strategies at state level,” said Guillermo Cruz Alemán, author of the report.

When it comes to public sector workforce readiness strategies for AI implementation and 4IR, the most advanced countries are the United States and the United Kingdom. The US government has launched important actions, such as devising a national workforce training plan for the twenty-first century, while the United Kingdom has an academy for the development of public officials’ digital skills, as well as a program to accelerate data science projects within the government.

An analysis of the percentage of public servants' work time in the United States that could potentially be affected by AI, shows that between 20% and 45% of workers’ time is devoted to tasks that could be automated, while between 45% and 60% of their time is devoted to tasks that could be complemented by technology. Meanwhile, in Latin America, 30% of the public administration workforce works in roles with a high risk of technological substitution.

The AI/4RI skills development strategies recommended in the CAF report are classified according to three approaches and differing public servant profiles: (i) reskilling, aimed at employees whose tasks may be replaced by automation or AI; ii) upskilling for AI or IT specialists, non-specialist users, managers and other organization workers with personalized content based on their respective profiles; and (iii) recruiting new employees with the hard and soft skills required by governments.

“AI has high disruptive potential to reset public administrations in the digital age. At CAF, we promote digital modernization to promote more agile, open and innovative governments that rely on new technologies and data intelligence, promoting improvements in efficiency for administrations and in quality of citizen services,” said Antonio Silveira, manager of Physical Infrastructure and Digital Transformation at CAF.

The momentum of technological adoption due to the pandemic should not be lost. Thus, the challenge for public administrations will be to empower their workers to learn and apply the new skills required in this new environment, which will equip them to operate in an increasingly digital and automated world.