The Cuban government affirmed this Monday that it is working to “advance in the responsible, gradual and growing incorporation of artificial intelligence in the island’s daily processes.”
The statement was made by Cuban Minister of Communications Mayra Arevich when presenting this Monday a development strategy on the subject during a meeting with President Miguel Díaz-Canel, reported Granma newspaper.
According to Arevich, this strategy is part of the Digital Transformation Policy in Cuba and was “prepared by academics, experts, researchers, officials, as well as personnel from the productive and service sectors,” under the direction of her ministry.
Organized into several “strategic focal points,” it seeks to take advantage of artificial intelligence (AI) to achieve impacts such as productivity and time savings, the reduction of human errors, the enhancement of creativity and the streamlining of decision-making.
The incorporation that the government is working on, explained the minister, has as priorities the economy and social welfare, “without ever overlooking the challenges that its development and use in the country implies.”
Practical use
So far, as was said at the meeting, projects associated with AI have been promoted in areas such as criminal investigation, defense, health, population care services, public administration, transportation and meteorology.
Regarding its practical use, experts from different organizations and sectors presented some of the results already obtained, including the use of AI in the procedures of the Ministry of Justice.
In particular, it was explained that since 2023, approximately 30% of the issuance of certification requests have been made through this means, which represents more than 2,532,000 certifications issued automatically, and that the aspiration is to cover more than 80%.
For her part, Dr. Yailé Caballero Mota, from the University of Camagüey, highlighted “the importance of establishing and strengthening alliances, both internal and external, with the purpose of promoting artificial intelligence,” the Granma report noted.
In this regard, she referred to a project of that higher education institution with other Cuban and Chinese universities for the creation of an International Institute of Research in Artificial Intelligence, “which can be an important opportunity for the development of human resources.”
President Díaz-Canel affirmed that Cuba must aspire to “be at the forefront” in this matter, “at least in Latin America and the Caribbean,” despite the technological and infrastructure difficulties on the island, in the midst of the severe crisis the island is going through.
“Even though we do not have the infrastructure, we do have sufficiently prepared human capital to move forward,” he said.
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In addition, the president considered that the application of AI “can represent a great deal for the development of the country, always with the ethics, comprehensiveness and coherence that it requires, for which it is also necessary to create a culture associated with these issues.”
According to the report, Díaz-Canel also advocated for “introducing artificial intelligence content at all levels of education in the country” and for “taking advantage of the potential of the different working alliances that have been established, both within the nation and with others.”
