The recent Jamaica Observer commentary on “AI’s threat to labour” raises fair questions — questions many Jamaicans are already asking at home and at work. Artificial intelligence (AI) is moving quickly. Some tasks will change, some roles will shrink, and new roles will emerge.

Our responsibility as Government is not to downplay that reality, and it is not to panic. Our responsibility is to lead — by preparing our people, modernising our institutions, and using AI to solve one of Jamaica’s long-standing challenges: low productivity.

The global evidence is clear. The World Economic Forum projects significant job churn by 2030, with about 170 million new jobs created and 92 million displaced across the world — net positive, but disruptive everywhere. It also expects that 39 per cent of workers’ core skills will change by 2030, and that 59 out of every 100 workers will need training, with a meaningful share at risk of missing out. That is not an abstract statistic. It is a warning that countries that do not train their people at scale will absorb disruption without capturing the upside.

The International Monetary Fund’s research adds an important point for developing economies: Emerging markets have material exposure to AI (around 40 per cent of jobs), and low-income countries are also exposed (around 26 per cent). But the risk is not only job disruption, it is that countries with weaker digital infrastructure and skills systems may fail to seize productivity gains, widening inequality between nations over time. In other words: the future will reward preparedness.

Jamaica will be prepared.

We have already started the work. Jamaica’s National AI Task Force has developed policy recommendations and supported broad stakeholder engagement, including through UNESCO’s AI Readiness Assessment process. That work matters because it shifts AI from “tech talk” into practical national planning: how we educate, how we train, how we regulate, how we procure technology, and how we protect citizens and workers.

To move from planning to execution, the National AI Task Force has been reconvened. Its mandate at this stage is clear: to help the Government develop policy, and to explore the regulatory and legislative framework Jamaica needs to responsibly govern AI, while ensuring that Jamaicans can benefit from AI in the workplace and in the wider economy. The questions raised in the Observer article are exactly the questions we are treating with — directly, transparently, and with urgency.

So what must Jamaica do?

1) Government will build a national AI upskilling pipeline — fast and at scale.

The first and most important protection for Jamaican workers is capability. We must not treat AI skills as a niche for a few specialists. We must build a national AI learning pathway that works for the whole population: basic AI literacy for everyone; role-based training for workers who will use AI tools daily; and advanced tracks for the people who will build, audit, secure, and govern AI systems.

This will include strengthening teacher training and modernising curricula so students learn how to think, write, analyse, and solve problems in an AI world — not just how to “use tools”. It will also mean expanded vocational and continuing education through institutions such as HEART/NSTA Trust and other training providers, backed by partnerships with the private sector so training connects to real work opportunities.

We must push skills that directly increase employability and productivity: data handling, digital judgement, AI-assisted workflow design, cybersecurity hygiene, and responsible use practices so workers can use AI safely, verify outputs, and protect sensitive information.

2) Government will help Jamaica’s service sectors move up the value chain, especially business process outsourcing (BPO).

We must be honest: routine, screen-based tasks are the pressure point globally. Jamaica’s BPO sector has provided opportunities to many Jamaicans, and we must not abandon that workforce to “market forces”. We must drive a structured transition that moves workers into higher-value roles in which AI improves quality and output rather than replaces people.

That means supporting shifts into customer success, quality assurance, compliance operations, analytics support, content moderation, trust and safety, cybersecurity support, multilingual escalation, and “human-in-the-loop” roles — jobs in which people supervise, correct, and improve AI outputs and where service quality and judgement matter.

This is how Jamaica strengthens competitiveness. If AI reduces the labour-cost advantage in some entry-level services, Jamaica will compete on capability, quality, and specialisation.

3) Government will use AI to attack Jamaica’s productivity problem across the whole economy.

Productivity is not a slogan, it is how we raise living standards. Jamaica’s productivity challenge shows up in slow processes, repeated manual work, weak data practices, and uneven technology adoption, especially among micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). AI can lift productivity quickly, but only if we pair adoption with skills and process redesign.

Government will support responsible AI adoption across key sectors, including public service delivery and the MSME ecosystem. We must promote practical supports — guidance, toolkits, training partnerships, and sector-specific pilots — so AI becomes a usable productivity tool for firms that don’t have large tech teams.

We must also modernise public services responsibly. When Government improves service delivery with well-trained staff, proper controls, and modern workflows, citizens benefit and the economy benefits. Public sector productivity is national productivity.

4) Government will strengthen governance, procurement discipline, and public trust.

AI adoption without trust will fail. That is why, alongside upskilling, we must put in place stronger governance mechanisms that match the level of risk. UNESCO’s readiness work emphasises the need for clearer structures, including AI-specific procurement guidance and stronger oversight because Government procurement decisions can scale benefits or scale harm.

We must strengthen procurement capacity so AI systems purchased for public use meet requirements around transparency, security, data protection, and ongoing monitoring. We must advance policy and legislative work to ensure accountability where AI impacts rights and livelihoods. And we must engage Jamaicans openly so the public understands what is being deployed, why, and what safeguards exist.

5) Government will support workers through transition.

Workforce change must be managed responsibly. We must invest in training and pathways into new roles. We must strengthen transition supports so people are not left behind while the economy adapts. The aim is simple: opportunity, not insecurity.

The bottom line is that AI will change work. Jamaica will not be a passive recipient of that change. We must govern it. We must skill our people for it. And we must use it to raise productivity so growth translates into better jobs, stronger competitiveness, and improved outcomes for all Jamaicans.

Dr Andrew Wheatley is minister without portfolio with responsibility for science, technology, and special projects in the Office of the Prime Minister.