BrazilPwC Chile launch Center of Artificial Intelligence and Applied Analytics for Latin America
At 8:30 local time on the 5th of September, Santiago’s Ritz-Carlton will come alive with Latin America’s first center for artificial intelligence and applied analytics. The launch will be broadcast live via a web-stream, with translation.
The invite-only event will be hosted by two senior PwC leaders: Anand Rao, PwC’s Global Artificial Intelligence Lead and PwC Chile Consulting Partner Federico Morello. Rao will take the journey down to Chile from the United States (where he is based) to open the centre and speak about the intersection between analytics, AI, behavioral economics and innovation.
Whilst details of the center itself are scarce, Morello has recently aired his views on the future of AI in Latin America and, more generally, the future of the workplace. “Many of the limitations that are currently known will be overcome, and corporations and society will be the great beneficiaries,” Morello says of AI advances.
Globally, 67% of executives have said that AI will help humans and machines collaborate, creating a more productive working ecosystem. However, one of the most consistent debates on the issue is the extent to which automation, machine learning and AI may lead to job losses.
Though advances in AI technology are seen by many as a real threat to the jobs of millions – with machines slated to replace humans in manual or repetitive tasks – Morello believes that AI will help machines and humans work together and be more powerful as a result.
"Many people remember that the AI has defeated the best chess player in the world, however, few know what can defeat the best AI chess: A centaur - a human and the AI working as a team. In this centaur, the human being receives advice from the AI, but is completely free to accept them or make their own decisions, therefore, the key to success lies in the process established between the two parties,” he explains.
AI will change the landscape of the workplace as we know it, and it is impossible to deny that industries and economies will need to shift in their practices in order to survive. Workers must do the same, re-skill and integrate into the new workplace playing field. Soft skills and analytics will become more important and just as the horse-and-carriage driver had to adapt with the invention of the steam train, today’s workforce will find new opportunities in the Industry 4.0 era.
As message that AI will bring on the end of work as we know it decreases, “the acceptance of AI in the labor market and in society will grow," says Morello. "A much brighter future is foreseen, where the AI is not the enemy but an ally,” he concludes.
According to a recent PwC report on AI in the UK labour market – a market considered an information economy rather than a manufacturing or export-orientated economy – estimated that there would be a small net increase in jobs in the next 20 years with AI as a focal point.
The report showed how there was likely to be a loss of 700,000 manufacturing jobs across the country in the coming 20 years. These jobs would be offset by the creation of new jobs in various sectors including nearly 1 million in health and social work, education and hospitality.
Euan Cameron, UK AI leader at PwC, commented, “It’s likely that the fourth industrial revolution will favour those with strong digital skills, as well as capabilities like creativity and teamwork which machines find it harder to replicate.”
The new PwC Center of Artificial Intelligence and Applied Analytics for Latin America aims to highlight the opportunities brought with AI transition and influence decision-makers surrounding its uptake. The event will run from 8:30 Chilean time and will be broadcast via the PwC Chile website via live streaming.
