Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming how decisions are made in key sectors like finance, employment, education, and healthcare. But as its use expands, so do serious risks. One of the most urgent is algorithmic discrimination—hidden biases in AI systems that perpetuate historical inequalities and violate fundamental rights.
This modern form of discrimination can arise from multiple sources: training datasets that reflect social prejudices, poorly designed models, or simply a lack of human oversight. The result? Automated decisions that disproportionately affect minorities, racialized communities, or low-income individuals—often without access to information, explanation, or any means of defense.
From a legal standpoint, protection against such biases is still emerging in Latin America. While the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides clear rights—such as objecting to automated decisions or demanding an explanation—progress in our region remains fragmented. Countries like Brazil, Uruguay, and Mexico have made significant strides, but real-world implementation still faces many challenges.
A landmark case is the Colombian Constitutional Court’s ruling T-067/25, which affirmed that algorithmic transparency is a fundamental guarantee. The decision requires that the public understand how automated systems operate when they affect people’s lives, and that public entities provide clear, comprehensible explanations rather than hiding behind technological opacity.
“Algorithmic transparency is essential in a democratic society. If an automated system makes decisions opaquely, it’s impossible to evaluate its fairness, or its impact on people’s dignity and autonomy.”
Despite progress, the region still faces significant challenges: scattered legislation, limited technical capacity to audit algorithms, and a profound digital divide that prevents many citizens from understanding or exercising their rights.
What can we do from a legal and technical perspective?
- Require mandatory algorithmic impact assessments in sensitive sectors.
- Establish independent, periodic audits of AI systems.
- Ensure meaningful human oversight, not just formal procedures.
- Promote digital and legal literacy campaigns for the public and legal professionals.
- Drive legislative reforms that match the rapid pace of AI development.
Algorithmic discrimination is not a future problem—it’s a present reality affecting thousands of people. Yet it’s also an opportunity for Latin America to lead with a regulatory model that blends technical insight, legal rigor, and ethical commitment.
