The Reading Latin American and Caribbean (R-LAC) on 18 June 2025 welcomed Dr Pavel Reyes Mercado, a marketing professor from the Universidad Anahuac Mexico, for a seminar on how Generative AI (GenAI) is affecting Mexico’s widespread informal economy. Dr Reyes Mercado’s research, which uses affordance theory and includes interviews with 20 informal entrepreneurs in Mexico, shows that GenAI is already benefiting these vulnerable businesses. Early findings highlight that GenAI helps them communicate more effectively with customers, quickly find information for problem-solving, and create content for social media campaigns on platforms like Facebook and TikTok. The event saw a diverse group of researchers from across the University of Reading in attendance.
