New UNESCO and CENIA agreement targets AI literacy and ethical standards
Training, digital skills development and ethical AI governance are central goals of a new cooperation framework, covering Chile and the wider Latin American region.
The UNESCO Regional Office in Santiago and the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence (CENIA) signed a cooperation agreement at the end of February 2026 to promote ethical AI in education across Chile and Latin America.
The framework supports joint initiatives aimed at strengthening digital skills, improving AI literacy and advancing people-centred development models for AI.
Projects under the partnership will focus on training programmes and educational resources designed for a wide range of audiences, including the general public, educators, technical specialists and policymakers.
Collaborative efforts will also encourage dialogue between institutions, governments and industry to support responsible innovation and reinforce regional ecosystems linked to emerging technologies.
An early outcome includes Latam-GPT, the first open large language model for Latin America and the Caribbean. The system will aid education ministries and the UNESCO Regional Observatory on AI, helping guide responsible adoption and monitor developments.
‘Artificial Intelligence represents a historic opportunity to transform our education and productive systems, but its development must be guided by clear ethical principles and a people-centred vision. This partnership with CENIA will enable us to support countries in building capacities and governance frameworks that ensure AI effectively contributes to the common good,’ stated Esther Kuisch Laroche, Director of the UNESCO Regional Office in Santiago.
‘At CENIA, we have been working consistently on applied research and capacity-building, advancing knowledge generation, technology transfer and scientific evidence.
This experience allows us to contribute from both a technical and training perspective to ensure that the development of Artificial Intelligence in the region is grounded in robust and ethical standards, thereby impacting education and productive development. We are convinced that technological progress must be accompanied by training, responsible frameworks and multi-sector collaboration.
For this reason, this agreement with UNESCO represents a strategic step towards strengthening capacity development and the ethical, people-centred adoption of Artificial Intelligence in Latin America and the Caribbean.’
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