Ibero-American General Artificial Intelligence and a heritage of thirty centuries

In July 2022, Sam Altman stated in his good for helping us find the meaning of reality.

That AGI can be briefly defined as AI capable of performing any cognitive task, at least as well as humans. This means you will be able to plan, solve problems, reason, understand complex ideas at human levels of abstraction, and be creative.

Sam Altman today enjoys a global fame that perhaps he did not dream of that July 2022, less than half a year before the launch of ChatGPT. Elon Musk, another of the most influential spokespersons in the field of artificial intelligence, said in early April that in one or two years we would have an AI smarter than any human.

If we forget for a moment the differences in tone and message between apocalyptics and optimists about the implications of such a technological achievement, what remains is a sense of urgency, that a GAI is inevitable, and that it may lead humanity to its salvation or its end, depending on who you ask. Although, all things considered, the tone is generally positive about the need for the IAG and its beneficent nature.

The possibility and benefits of achieving this IAG, however, are far from obvious. Human intelligence has not yet explored the full potential of its collaboration on a global scale. We have not yet reached consensus solutions for global problems such as extreme poverty, malnutrition or the prevalence in poor regions of perfectly avoidable diseases. Not even when scientific data is incontestable, as is the case with global warming, is it accepted above economic, national or political interests.

There does not seem to be enough will for alliances that could address our problems effectively and comprehensively. Would the IAG make these alliances possible or, on the contrary, is it expected to make them superfluous? Does anyone believe that an AGI developed by one of these large companies could reach conclusions that benefit humanity, at the expense of the corporate interests that support it?

The dominant narrative around the benefits and necessity of IAG advocates technical solutions to humanity's problems. As if hunger, extreme poverty, lack of access to quality education or global warming could be addressed as surmountable problems with one or several software and hardware solutions.

As important as it is to question the urgency or need for an IAG as the salvation of humanity, it is to demand alternatives. In the case of Ibero-America, we should talk about the objective of an IAGI, an

Ibero-American

General Artificial Intelligence .

The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced at the 2024 Mobile World Congress the development of a language model in Spanish and co-official languages. Days later, on March 6, during the visit of the Spanish president to Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva supported the proposal for an artificial intelligence project in Spanish and Portuguese.

Alliances like this between Brazil and Spain are essential to develop alternatives to corporate AI. Participation in these projects by leading companies is inevitable if we want to provide these language models with the necessary competitiveness in a reasonable time.

Likewise, for these language models to be able to promote improvements in education, scientific research or the Ibero-American economy, it will be necessary to guarantee that their development takes into account our cultural, historical and social specificities.

The Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI) celebrates 75 years working to improve education, science and culture in Ibero-America. As the largest multilateral cooperation organization in the region, it has demonstrated not only the will, but also the necessary experience in key areas for the success of any Ibero-American AI.

No AI that ignores our “heritage of thirty centuries”, in the words of Alejo Carpentier, our cultural and linguistic identity, our history, but also our social and economic objectives and challenges, can be the AI ​​that truly changes the world.

Ismael Gómez

is director of Global Digital Strategy at the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI).