FRUSTRATED by endless paperwork, repeated forms, and unexplained delays, Jamaicans may soon find relief in artificial intelligence (AI), as Dr Andrew Wheatley says the technology could help dismantle the “bad bureaucracy” that stifles national progress.

Wheatley, who is minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for science, technology, and special projects, said Jamaica has reached a point at which fixing inefficient government systems is no longer optional if the country is to remain competitive and resilient in the digital era.

Wheatley was addressing a panel discussion hosted by Generation 2000, the young professionals arm of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party.

Titled ‘Beyond Bureaucracy: Jamaica’s Resilience for the Digital Age’, the discussion was held at the Faculty of Law at The University of the West Indies, Mona campus on Tuesday.

Wheatley warned that bureaucratic inefficiencies do more than inconvenience citizens, noting that they also undermine national development.

“When bad bureaucracy becomes normal, it does something dangerous: It taxes ambition, and that is something that we cannot curtail as a society, where we limit the ambition of our young people. It trains people to expect delay when they have bad bureaucracy [and] it quietly tells bright young Jamaicans it’s easier not to try,” he said.

He pointed to everyday experiences familiar to many Jamaicans, including long waits for approvals and having to submit the same information repeatedly to different agencies.

“What we are confronting is bad bureaucracy, and you know what it looks like because many of you have lived it, especially those of us who are coming up into society, having gone through high school and coming through the universities. It is a graduate who waits months for a process that should take days. It is an entrepreneur who can’t register and operationalise a business without bouncing between offices and repeating the same information. It is a citizen who cannot tell whether their application is processing, progressing, or simply just existing in this space,” Wheatley said.

According to the minister, AI could play a critical role in addressing these problems by automating routine checks and allowing public servants to focus on more complex decisions.

“A huge part of delay is routine checking, such as is, the form complete? Is the document valid? Does it meet stated requirements? AI can help pre-screen applications quickly and consistently, flagging exceptions for human judgement instead of treating every case like a crisis,” he said.

“AI can also kill redundancy, and that is one thing that we can appreciate that fuels bad bureaucracy. Bad bureaucracies are duplication, where different agencies ask you for the same information,” he said, adding that duplication across government agencies remains one of the biggest drivers of inefficiency, with citizens often forced to carry information from one office to another.

The Government has already been pursuing digital transformation initiatives aimed at improving efficiency, including the national identification system, which is intended to provide a secure and centralised way to verify identity and share information across public agencies.

Wheatley also added that AI could improve transparency and reduce public frustration by allowing citizens to track applications and identify delays in real time.

“One of the most powerful, useful uses of AI is pattern detection. Spotting bottlenecks, predicting backlogs and highlighting where decisions slow down, that is how we utilise the technology. That allows leadership to manage performance in real time instead of discovering problems after citizens have already suffered through them,” he said.

At the same time, he cautioned that adopting artificial intelligence must be done responsibly, with safeguards to protect citizens’ rights and personal information.

“AI must never become automated on the fence. This is something that is non-negotiable. If AI touches public decisions, it must be governed. It must be auditable, it must be appealable, it must be secure. Speed must never come at the cost of rights,” Wheatley said.

He, therefore, reiterated that the Government has established a national AI task force to guide the country’s approach and ensure proper oversight, alongside updates to cybercrime and data protection frameworks.

While emphasising that technology alone cannot fix systemic issues, Wheatley said AI could help accelerate reforms that Jamaicans have long demanded.

He also urged young Jamaicans to play an active role in shaping the country’s digital future, arguing that modernising public services is essential to building a more resilient and efficient State.

“I’ll give you a mission you can actually apply: Make the Jamaican State easier to use without making it easier to abuse… and what that means is building systems that are fast and fair, more automated and more accountable, more connected and more secure. We need your talent, whether it’s in GovTech, whether it’s in cybersecurity, in data, in production design, in policy research, whether it’s in AI governance, whether it’s in entrepreneurship, because the Jamaica we’re building isn’t just a Jamaica that is digital, it is a Jamaica that is resilient,” Wheatley emphasised.