Exploring the Future of AI in Brazil: Harvard Panel Series Brings Regional Experts Together
On April 17 and 18, 2025, the DRCLAS Brazil Studies Program hosted a two-day panel series titled Artificial Intelligence in Brazil convening Brazilian researchers, policymakers, industry leaders, and specialists. The event explored the complex landscape of AI research, development, and implementation in Brazil, highlighting both the country’s distinctive opportunities and the challenges it faces in the global AI ecosystem.
Over the course of two days, speakers addressed key questions at the intersection of technology and society: What are Brazil’s unique barriers and enablers in AI? How can the country harness its diverse social, cultural, and economic fabric to shape AI applications that reflect local realities? And what future scenarios—optimistic and otherwise—might lie ahead?
The panels featured a broad spectrum of voices, including Harvard faculty Flavio Calmon and Fernanda Viegas. Among the challenges discussed were access to computational infrastructure, uneven data availability, and gaps in technical training across the country.
The panel series was organized by Flavio Calmon, Caio Vieira Machado, Claudio Verdun, and Lucas Monteiro Paes. It reinforced the need for strategic investments in education, research, and infrastructure, as well as cross-sector partnerships and regulatory clarity. As Brazil charts its course through the fast-evolving AI landscape, the event offered a timely and collaborative space to reflect on how the country can best prepare for AI innovation on its own terms.
For those interested in further exploring the topic, we invite you to listen to the podcast episode “Bridging the Digital Divide: AI, Equity, and Global Development” featuring Flavio Calmon. The conversation offers valuable insights into key issues such as equity, innovation, and the global implications of AI—topics closely aligned with the goals of the panel series, co-sponsored by the Center for International Development.
About the Organizers:
Flavio Calmon is Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at Harvard's John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Prior to joining Harvard, Professor Calmon was a Social Good Post-Doctoral Fellow at IBM Research in Yorktown Heights, New York. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT. His primary research interests include information theory, signal processing, and machine learning.
Caio Vieira Machado is a lawyer and social scientist specializing in the intersection of law, technology, and policy. He produces research and legal opinions using interdisciplinary approaches, addressing critical issues such as AI fairness, platform regulation, and scientific disinformation. Currently, Caio is a fellow at Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and at Harvard's Berkman Klein Center for Law in Society, where they are researching machine learning and fairness.
Claudio Verdun is a mathematician working with the mathematics of AI and machine learning at Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences under the mentorship of Flavio Calmon. His research focuses on trustworthy machine learning, exploring concepts such as fairness and arbitrariness, as well as mechanistic interpretability techniques for large generative models.
Lucas Monteiro Paes is an Applied Mathematics Ph.D. candidate at Harvard University, working with Prof. Flavio Calmon. Previously, he was a Student Researcher at Google DeepMind and an AI Research Scientist Intern at IBM Research in the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center. He uses theoretical insights to develop safe and trustworthy AI and ML systems. His research is supported by the 2024 Apple Scholars in AI/ML Fellowship.
