Voices of Change: Generative AI and the transformation of work in Latin America

The present study aims to analyze the employment impact of the adoption of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) in Latin America through an exploration of five countries in the region—Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Argentina and Costa Rica—and a focus on sectors considered to be among the most affected: call centers and customer service, graphic design, art and photography, copywriting and journalism, and software development. Over 60 interviews were conducted with workers, businesspeople, union leaders, and representatives of business chambers.This research reveals the emergence of a complex and multifaceted transformation of labor, which, up to this point, does not fully align with the prevailing studies in the literature, particularly those based on exposure level analyses that assess how various tasks within job roles may be impacted by GAI. Interviews and findings from various sources indicate that while the region is still far from widespread adoption, GAI is already beginning to redefine tasks, reconfigure certain productive sectors, and, above all, generate new tensions between the technology’s potential and the risk of employment precarization. One key conclusion that emerges from the research is the discrepancy between the widespread fear of massive job displacement due to GAI and the empirical evidence collected across the sectors analyzed. While occupational exposure studies suggest significant vulnerability in certain roles, the concrete experiences of implementation reveal a more nuanced and complex picture. Some sectors, such as software development, stand out as areas where indicators predict high levels of replacement, yet in practice what is observed is complementarity.