Name in original language
HOJA DE RUTA HACIA EL DESARROLLO E IMPLEMENTACIÓN ÉTICA DE LA INTELIGENCIA ARTIFICIAL EN GUANAJUATO
Initiative overview
This initiative is a 2024 roadmap developed jointly by the Government of Guanajuato (through its Innovation Institute), UNESCO Mexico, and PIT Policy Lab to strengthen the state’s AI ecosystem and promote responsible use aligned with UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Ethics of AI. It responds to both an opportunity and a risk: Guanajuato is rapidly adopting emerging technologies and has strong innovation capacity, but AI can also amplify inequality, bias, and other harms if it is used without clear safeguards. The roadmap’s objectives are to translate high-level ethical principles into practical action across three core groups: government, academia, and the private sector/startup community.
Results, outcomes and impacts
So far, impacts include the co-creation of the AI Ethics Roadmap (built from an AI ecosystem mapping process and 4 thematic workshops to inform the roadmap). Tangible early results reported by the state include 7,500 registrations for the 2026 “CercanIA” event, 8,236 public servants trained in AI, 3,753 students and teachers reached via digital platforms, and communities of 1,500 women strengthened in AI, plus an alliance with Microsoft to train 100,000 people. Future impacts expected are scaled responsible-AI pilots in public services and more data-informed policymaking, including using AI to support and track the 2024–2030 Government Program.
Challenges and lessons learned
Risks and challenges encountered included difficulties mapping the AI ecosystem and key actors, ensuring representative participation (including gender balance), and working under a tight timeline that limited deeper civil-society engagement. Common challenges also included aligning priorities across government, academia, and industry, agreeing on a shared scope for “responsible AI” and managing early concerns about privacy, transparency, and trust.
They were addressed through a structured co-creation process (workshops + ecosystem mapping) and by proposing protocols, continuous training, and multidisciplinary ethics oversight for later deployments. Conditions for success were early buy-in, clear governance, sustained support, strong data governance and risk management, and ongoing capacity-building.
