A university professor has charged that Jamaicans will have to make a commitment to lifelong learning if they are to survive and do well during the current unfolding of the Fourth Industrial Revolution which has artificial intelligence (AI) as a core feature.

Anthony Clayton, a professor of sustainable development at The University of the West Indies, Mona, told the Jamaica Observer on Sunday that as more and more technical skills are automated, future employment is more likely to require problem solving ability, creativity, and emotional intelligence.

“It will be necessary to reorient Jamaica’s systems of education and training in order to develop these skills as well as building the infrastructure needed to compete in the future. This will require some new thinking,” Professor Clayton said.

He said several technology corporations in the United States have already taken over part of the role of traditional universities. According to Clayton, these corporations prefer their employees to be less theoretical and more focused on problem solving.

He pointed to other countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom, citing that they have implemented hybrid models of industry-university partnership, industrialised experience placements, and engineering doctorates sponsored by corporations in which students pursue a research project that will solve problems or create new products for the firm.

“It is likely that these hybrid arrangements and partnerships will increasingly become the norm, initially in technologically driven areas to make learning outcomes more relevant to future labour market requirements,” he said.

“An early adoption of this approach would help Jamaica to transition into a world in which production and manufacturing; logistics, finance, marketing and management; security, planning and government are all part of an integrated digital economy, which means that most members of the workforce will need to be knowledgeable workers, capable of adding value with their relevant expertise, critical thinking and interpersonal skills and commitment to lifelong learning,” Clayton said, adding that the transition would require some rethinking of the role of government and institutions.

He highlighted that making the right adjustments would enable Jamaica to seize opportunities in the Fourth Industrial Revolution “to finally escape its entrenched pattern of low-growth and become a dynamo”.