IDB report urges using AI to boost productive sectors

Artificial Intelligence and algorithms

– can lower electricity consumption; increase globally competitiveness

A study emanating from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) indicates that improving Gross Domestic Production (GDP) in Caribbean countries may be given a timely boost through incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) in the various sectors.
The report, which was prepared by the IDB’s Institute for the Integration of Latin America and the Caribbean (INTAL), received input from dozens of experts in artificial intelligence. It predicts that with the use of AI, the GDP of countries in the region can be significantly boosted and countries made more competitive on the

world stage.
According to the report, this increase primarily comes from improvements in productivity; that is better and more strategic work plans for workers.
“Artificial intelligence is much more than a new technological fad,” Director of INTAL, Gustavo Beliz stated in an IDB release. “It is a unique hybrid of work and capital. It is an entirely new productive force, capable of teaching itself. These new technologies need to be inserted into our productive processes and in our exports. Failure to do so means falling behind more developed economies.”

According to the report, complex trade negotiations and government investments can be improved through the use of algorithms that analyse the data relating to tariffs, rules of origin and sanitary regulations.
When it comes to navigating the finance and capital markets, algorithms can be as much as 95 per cent more effective in predicting investor risk. And it doesn’t stop there, as the report states that using smart networks can better match supply with demand.
When it comes to health, the report found that diagnosing illness with image recognition has a 96 per cent accuracy rate and as such, could boost health services. And the ability to personalise education plans using AI, the report states, can reduce the cost of remedial work for slow learners.
At the same time, the report warns that AI can also bring political and ethical challenges, foremost among which is the risk of job losses. It notes that countries

with lower GDP per capita and more inequality are at a greater risk of this.

Production in Guyana
In Guyana, various sectors have taken a beating over the past few years as production numbers have dropped. Despite the economy growing by 4.5 per cent in the first half of 2018, traditional sectors like sugar and rice, contracted by 30.6 and 3.8 per cent respectively. This was revealed in the Finance Ministry’s Mid-Year Report 2018,
When he addressed the National Assembly about the country’s economic performance, Finance Minister Winston Jordan admitted that the gold sector also suffered a decline of 9.1 per cent. This is equivalent to a decrease of 288,114 ounces in gold declaration. The report also revealed that this represented a 19.4 per cent shortfall.
The Minister in his report also noted that there are a number of downside economic and fiscal risks to the economy, both domestic and external, which can frustrate the achievement of the various revised targets.
In relation to sugar production, the report stated that this continued to be impacted negatively by a sub-optimal mix of factors, which also include deficient cash flow alignment and the undue absence of a Board to oversee the management of the remaining sugar estates. Already, struggles in lowering production costs for the sugar industry has seen sugar from other countries take precedence over locally produced sugar.