JAMAICANS are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to help with homework, write business plans, create marketing content, and support workplace tasks, but the technology remains significantly underutilised, with users tapping only a fraction of its capabilities, a local expert has said.

While local adoption continues to grow, many individuals and businesses are treating AI primarily as a productivity assistant rather than a tool capable of building software, conducting sophisticated market research, automating complex workflows, and solving real-world business problems.

According to Adrian Dunkley, founder of StarApple Analytics and co-founder of Maestro AI Labs, Jamaicans are using AI creatively but cautiously, often limiting themselves to basic tasks instead of exploiting its more transformative applications.

“We’re probably only using about 20 per cent of what these AI models can actually do,” Dunkley told the Jamaica Observer in an interview this week as he pointed to some of the most common uses.

“People are asking AI to write business plans, design logos, and help with studying when they could be using it to build applications, conduct market research, simulate business scenarios, or create tools that solve everyday problems,” he further said to Sunday Finance.

Dunkley’s comments follow the release of new research by StarApple Analytics, in collaboration with Anthropic, examining how Jamaicans use generative AI platforms.

According to the findings, content creation and copywriting account for the largest share of AI conversations in Jamaica at 25.2 per cent, exceeding the global average of 22.7 per cent. Educational and learning tasks ranking second in terms of usage stood at 17.4 per cent, significantly higher than the global average and almost double that of the United States’s 9.3 per cent. Software development on the other hand represented 13.5 per cent of usage, ranking above the global average of 11.5 per cent but still well below the levels recorded for leading technology hubs.

The data showing that Jamaicans primarily use AI for homework assistance also reflected a high score for other usage such as promotional writing, workplace communication, personal branding, and web development. With homework help accounting for 8.2 per cent of all AI conversations nationally, this emerged as the country’s single-largest individual use case.

While describing the findings as encouraging, Dunkley said they also highlight significant untapped potential.

“There is also a literacy issue wherein people don’t always know what the technology is capable of, so what we have found is that many are still doing a lot of the heavy lifting themselves,” he stated..

Concerning business and entrepreneurship, he said AI is often used to generate business plans and branding materials when it could instead be used to analyse competitors, conduct market research, identify target customers, interpret consumer sentiment from social media and recommend strategies for entering new markets.

DUNKLEY…people are asking AI to write business plans, design logos, and help with studying when they could be using it to build applications, conduct market research, simulate business scenarios, or create tools that solve everyday problems

“They’re asking AI to write the business plan but not asking it the deeper business questions,” Dunkley said. “AI can help sharpen your business strategy, identify opportunities, and provide information that many small businesses simply can’t afford to purchase.”

He contrasted Jamaica’s approach with users in Trinidad and Tobago who are generally more willing to ask AI to build websites or develop applications. Although cautioning that relying entirely on AI carries risks, Dunkley said greater experimentation will allow users to innovate faster.

“They’re moving faster because they’re pushing the tools harder. AI still needs human oversight but they’re exploring what’s possible,” the tech expert said.

The research, which also found that Jamaicans are more inclined to collaborate with AI rather than simply delegating tasks, found some 50.5 per cent of interactions involving users working alongside AI through multiple stages of a task when compared with 49.5 per cent that were largely automated. About one-third of conversations also involved users repeatedly refining ideas with AI — above the global average — suggesting that Jamaicans prefer to remain actively involved in the creative process.

Dunkley, while lauding the collaborative mindset as strength, however stressed the need for users to become more adventurous. “There’s still a lot more people can tap into — they just have to be willing to experiment and push the AI to see the kinds of things it’s capable of doing.”

Further dissecting the findings, Dunkley, who builds and teaches persons about AI models, said that beyond education and business, he also believes AI could be used to help Jamaicans make better everyday decisions such as explaining legislations, analysing health information, diagnosing household problems, or even assisting with financial planning using even free versions of available AI tools.

He also pointed to opportunities for AI use in crime fighting, disaster preparedness, and weather forecasting, though arguing that unlocking these benefits will require greater AI literacy beginning at the high school level, rather than waiting until university.

“If we want to move ahead, we have to start younger. Students need to understand both the capabilities and the dangers of AI. Once they understand how it works they’re much less likely to be manipulated by it,” Dunkley said.

The research found that while Jamaica already possesses two of the key ingredients needed to compete in an AI-driven economy — creativity and collaboration — the next challenge is converting those strengths into higher-value applications that will improve productivity, strengthen businesses, and generate new economic opportunities.

Despite current limitations, Dunkley said that as we move forward he, however, expects AI use in Jamaica to become even more sophisticated as awareness grows.

“There are a lot of people using what I call shadow AI…this is where they’re using it every day, but only for relatively low-level tasks. However, once people begin to understand the full range of possibilities they’ll start using it to solve much bigger problems,” he said.