Artificial intelligence (AI) is driving a profound transformation across Latin America, with Chile and Mexico emerging as key pioneers in AI integration. According to the 2024 Latin American Artificial Intelligence Index, published by Chile’s National Center for Artificial Intelligence and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Chile leads the region, and Mexico ranks sixth in AI implementation.
At the tertiary education level, this technological shift presents unprecedented opportunities to address long-standing sociopolitical challenges and economic inequalities by enhancing educational access. This is particularly crucial for Chile and Mexico, where tertiary education attainment among the working-age population (25–64 years) remains low: 25 percent in Chile, and 21 percent in Mexico. While younger generations show improving rates (33 percent and 28 percent respectively for ages 25–34), both countries still face substantial educational gaps and workforce skill shortages, despite improved generational outcomes.
These opportunities, however, unfold against significant structural challenges. With research and development investment at just 0.3 percent of GDP in both countries—far below the OECD average of 2.7 percent—universities in Chile and Mexico face considerable historical and structural shortcomings. These challenges are particularly concerning as the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) accelerates, bringing unprecedented technological transformation through AI, cloud computing, robotics, and digital interconnectivity. The limitations include chronic underinvestment in research infrastructure, lagging national AI and future workforce planning agendas, broadening gaps with industrialized economies as the pace of global sociotechnological change accelerates, and significant skills gaps to navigate the paradigm shift.
Despite these structural and institutional constraints, public and private universities in Chile and Mexico have launched ambitious initiatives to close the technological and digital divide in preparation for the 4IR. Their objective has been to accelerate innovation through AI by systematically prioritizing technology in pedagogy and research, fostering strategic partnerships with industry leaders, building internal capabilities to address emerging technological challenges, upskilling their workforces for digital transformation, and updating curricula to align with 4IR capabilities. Two leading institutions exemplify these approaches: The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (PUC), a private university, and Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, also known as Tecnológico de Monterrey or Tec de Monterrey, a private institution in Mexico.
