COColombia is rapidly adopting artificial intelligence (AI), but its development capacity lags behind its usage rate. According to Rodrigo Peñailillo, regional manager for CAF (the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean), Latin America and the Caribbean account for 15–20% of global AI application downloads but receive just 1.12% of global investment. This disparity highlights a region that consumes AI technologies extensively but produces them at a much lower scale. In Colombia specifically, 24% of people actively used AI tools in 2025, double the figure from 2023, though most users are still considered learners rather than experts. While Colombia ranks fourth in the Latin American AI index, this ranking reflects infrastructure, talent, data, research, and governance capabilities, not just adoption rates. The gap between AI consumption and production has economic implications, with the U.S. projected to grow by 15% due to AI, compared to just 5% for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Bias read (Center): The article presents factual data and quotes from CAF’s representative without overtly favoring any political side. It discusses technological and economic challenges faced by Latin America, including Colombia, without taking a stance on policy solutions or assigning blame to specific groups. The ph
