ST JAMES, Jamaica — Government workers are to receive mandatory training in artificial intelligence (AI) as part of efforts to improve public-sector efficiency and modernise service delivery.

Trevor Forrest, senior advisor to the minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Science, Technology and Special Projects, Dr Andrew Wheatley, outlined the initiative during a plenary session on ‘Harnessing Diaspora Talent to Build Jamaica’s AI and Digital Future’, at the 11th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James, on Wednesday.

Forrest said the programme is intended to equip public-sector workers with a better understanding of AI and its potential applications, while helping to foster greater efficiency across ministries, departments and agencies.

“We’re starting a programme now where we’re going to make it mandatory for government officers from top all the way down to learn and understand what AI is, appreciate it, understand the ethics around it, and understand how it can make their jobs easier and how it can make their ministry, their department, their agency more efficient,” he said.

Forrest outlined that while technological tools are becoming increasingly available, their effectiveness ultimately depends on the people responsible for using them.

He noted that some public-sector employees remain apprehensive about emerging technologies, often out of concern that these innovations could replace traditional roles.

“We have all of these technologies that help us to be more efficient, to make things easier and simpler but what we have to do is to train people who are in the system that you engage with and who sometimes themselves don’t like the technology, because, again, it’s stealing their work,” Forrest said.

He maintained that helping public servants understand the benefits and ethical considerations surrounding AI will encourage greater adoption of the technology and improve service delivery outcomes.

Forrest further contended that increased efficiency within government institutions will, ultimately, benefit Jamaicans both locally and overseas.

“So, we must now train them to appreciate it, so that they can use it to become more efficient, and you know what happens after that? That efficiency channels through to you and your engagement with your country,” he said.

The senior advisor noted that the initiative forms part of broader efforts to prepare Jamaica’s workforce and institutions for an increasingly digital future, while ensuring the responsible use of AI technologies across the public sector.

— JIS