Spotlight
TECHNOLOGY
Artificial Intelligence and Beyond
From the wheel and wagon to the jet, from the pen to the printing press to thencomputer, from internet startups to today’s world of artificial intelligence, technology evolves and society changes. Latin America faces challenges and opportunities in the emerging technological panorama. This Technology Spotlight will become the Fall 2025 issue of ReVista later this Fall.
Cover: QR codes woven into an Inka tunic. Technology draws on the past to create something new. Photo courtesy of Cindy Ramírez
Articles
Giving a Soul to AI: When Fiction Illuminates the Ethics of the Present
To better understand the present of artificial intelligence, I decided to travel to the future. I did so through writing a novel, Robots with Soul: Trapped Between Truth and Freedom.
Green Technological Change: Opportunities and Challenges in Latin America
Latin America is far from being a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, it is among the most vulnerable in the world to the effects of climate change.
Against the Odds: Latin America’s Quiet Leadership in the Age of AI
Working on Artificial Intelligence (AI) policy in Latin America has been one of the most rewarding and transformative experiences of my professional life.
Lessons from the Brazilian Cerrado: Technological Achievement and Environmental Challenges
The Brazilian Cerrado— the country’s vast tropical savanna— has gained recognition in recent years as a successful model story in agronomic development and precision agriculture fueled by technology within the tropics.
New Eye on the Universe: Chile’s Vera C. Rubin Observatory and AI
The largest digital camera made to date, comprising 3,500 megapixels, is embarking on a decade-long time-lapse movie of the entire southern sky.
The AI-Era Digital Divide: Listening to Mexican Youth Voices
One Mexican teenager admitted in an on-line survey, “To summarize information or conduct research, honestly, it makes my work much faster, but it does worsen my research skills.” She was referring to AI as an educational tool.
QR and Tocapus: Visual Communication of the Andes
Connecting the digital present with pre-Hispanic symbols is an opportunity to reclaim these signs and link them with new meanings. As a Peruvian artist and daughter of a Quechua-speaking family (an Indigenous language of the Andes), I began a journey of exploration that helped me understand the importance of textiles in this region of my country.
Half a Life Between Two Futures: Brazil, the United States and the AI Era
This year, I celebrate a milestone: half of my life in the United States. I was born and raised in Brazil, educated as an engineer in Rio de Janeiro, and started my professional career in a country still searching for its democratic footing.