HispanIA 2040

The purpose

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the technological innovations with the greatest potential to transform our society in the future. Like electricity, the internet, or the combustion engine during their time, AI is set to become a mainstream technology capable of redefining entire industries, boosting our productivity, and modernising our welfare state, among other things. Several studies have been published on how to accelerate the adoption of AI in firms and public services. However, none have fully explored how AI can help us address some of the major challenges our country will face in the coming decades. This is the purpose of HispanIA 2040: to understand how AI can enhance our future well-being and the choices we must make to turn this vision into a reality.

This study analyses the benefits and costs of using AI to address the five main challenges facing Spanish society in the long term:

Modernising the private sector
Strengthening the welfare state
Achieving environmental sustainability 
Enhancing security and defence systems
Reducing inequality

HispanIA 2040 recognizes the substantial uncertainty surrounding AI's ability to approximate human intelligence, while offering a transformative yet realistic vision of what this technology could mean for Spain by 2040. To this end, it prioritizes AI applications supported by empirical evidence and quantifies their potential impact considering Spain's starting point in each of the identified challenges.

It also sets out twelve priority lines of action to facilitate the adoption of AI, improve our internal development capabilities and ensure that its use is based on ethical and responsible principles.

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Full text Executive Summary

12

Experts
5

Challenges
12

Strategic policies

The future of Spain in images

These images evoke some realities that AI will enable us to observe in Spain in the coming decades.

A young woman with a disability performs her job with the help of an exoskeleton in a workspace adapted to her needs. Thanks to AI, disability no longer limits talent.

AI will bring many benefits to our work lives, such as increased productivity, more remote work, and flexible hours. By taking over routine tasks, it will enable us to focus on work that delivers more value.

Public transport powered by AI is autonomous and adapts to real-time demand. The streets of our cities will have fewer private cars, more space for pedestrians and less pollution.

Diagnosing skin cancer from a photo of a mole and predicting the progression of Alzheimer's disease by analyzing biometric data and genetic tests at a primary care centre are just a few examples of how AI is modernising our healthcare system. These applications are making healthcare more preventive and personalised.

AI-powered drones and sensor systems help optimise water consumption in agriculture, detect crop plagues and enhance the efficiency of pesticide and fertilizer application.

An AI-powered robot assists a dependent elderly person with meals. Technology is making it easier to age at home, allowing us to monitor our health daily, helping us with everyday tasks and stimulating us to keep our minds active.

AI-driven surveillance systems provide real-time alerts about potential threats, suspicious vessels, or possible fires, improving our capacity to respond swiftly and deploy security and defense teams effectively

An AI-powered virtual assistant integrated into the classroom whiteboard personalises learning by recommending tasks aligned with each student’s pace and needs. This allows teachers to focus more on nurturing essential human skills like creativity, teamwork, and public speaking.

Two people perform heavy tasks in a warehouse with the help of AI. With less physical effort, they can move more boxes and place them more efficiently and safely on shelves.

At the tax agency's offices, intelligent virtual assistants simplify the process of filing our tax returns, making our lives easier and allowing agents to focus on tasks that technology cannot manage.

At the hairdresser, an AI suggests hairstyle options tailored to our preferences and what suits us best. Yet, it’s still the hairdresser who cuts our hair. Technology improves the quality of services while complementing professions where human presence and empathy remain indispensable.

Frequently asked questions

What is the relationship between HispanIA 2040 and the Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2024? 

HispanIA 2040 and the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2024 are two distinct yet complementary initiatives with a common goal: to harness the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to increase Spain's economic prosperity and social welfare. Both the diagnoses and the lines of action set out in the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2024 have been taken into account in the preparation of HispanIA 2040.  

There are, however, significant differences in the focus and goals of the two projects.

The National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2024 aims to position Spain as a leader in the development and ethical application of AI, integrating it into the economy and society. In contrast, HispanIA 2040 focuses on how AI can address the major challenges the country will face in the future. HispanIA 2040 is not a blueprint for what capabilities we need to develop to have a leading AI ecosystem in the coming decades (the how). It is a study of how AI can contribute to building a more productive and sustainable economy, enhancing the efficiency and quality of public services, and modernising security and defence systems, all while addressing inequality and bridging social divides (the what for). 

The time horizon of the analysis is also different. The Strategy is a roadmap to be implemented in the short term (2024-2025), while HispanIA 2040 considers the potential impact of AI on the Spanish economy and society over a horizon of at least 15 years.  

What is the relationship between HispanIA 2040 and Spain 2050?

The conceptual framework of HispanIA 2040 is grounded in Spain 2050. The former looks at how AI can contribute to overcoming some of the biggest challenges we face as a country in the medium and long term, which have been analysed in detail in Spain 2050. 

Likewise, technological change is one of the megatrends that, together with ageing, green transition and increasing urbanisation, shapes the challenges analysed in Spain 2050. HispanIA 2040 explores the transformative potential of AI as a general-purpose technology, capable of influencing most aspects of our lives. 

Has AI been used to develop this project?

Yes, AI software was used in three phases of the project. Firstly, tools such as ChatGPT and Copilot were employed to identify areas of opportunity and applications where AI could make a difference in the coming decades. This provided a first approximation of the main themes for analysis in less time than if no AI had been used. Secondly, during the writing phase of the project, the assistants were used to improve the clarity and flow of the ideas and to make some complex concepts more accessible. Finally, generative AI was used to create the basis for the images of the future. Given the limitations of this technology in defining realistic spaces and characters, the results were improved using design tools to meet the visual standards of the project.