A landmark national study mapping Jamaica’s readiness for the artificial intelligence revolution has delivered a stark warning: just 6 percent of the island’s population has received any formal training to work with AI tools, leaving the country at risk of falling further behind in the fast-evolving global digital economy.
The research, carried out by a team of analysts from the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) at The University of the West Indies Mona campus, gathered responses from 1,072 Jamaicans across all 14 of the country’s parishes between October and December 2025, making it one of the most comprehensive national AI attitude surveys ever conducted in the Caribbean.
Lead researcher and SALISES research fellow Dr. Stephen Johnson, who presented the findings at the study’s official launch held at The UWI Regional Headquarters in St. Andrew on Tuesday, outlined a key paradox at the heart of the results: while most Jamaicans have heard of artificial intelligence, their actual technical understanding of how the technology works remains extremely limited.
The study’s data breaks down stark inequities in access to AI skills: the small share of Jamaicans that have received training are overwhelmingly concentrated in high-income households, holders of postgraduate degrees, and residents of suburban areas. Even accounting for these disparities, Johnson emphasized that the national average of 6 percent trained confirms Jamaica is currently falling behind global benchmarks for AI preparedness.
On a 100-point scale measuring public AI awareness, Jamaica scored a relatively strong 76, with most respondents able to identify common AI applications in everyday sectors including customer service, digital communication, and education. But Johnson explained that this surface-level awareness is often shaped by popular media depictions of sentient “science fiction style machines”, rather than a concrete, conceptual grasp of core AI functions like algorithmic operation and decision-making.
“Many respondents lack understanding of how AI actually works; struggle to distinguish AI from general technology; have low awareness of algorithmic decision making, weak risk literacy; limited understanding of deep fakes misinformation systems. AI knowledge remains shallow rather than deep, experience based rather than conceptual,” Johnson told attendees at the launch.
Despite the skills gap, the survey uncovered significant untapped public demand for AI education: 62 percent of respondents said they were interested in accessing AI training programs. The research team warned that failing to expand affordable, accessible training opportunities across the country would only widen the existing socioeconomic gap between high-income and low-income Jamaicans, as those with existing privilege lock in access to the high-value skills AI brings to the modern workforce.
Public trust in AI remains another major barrier to wider adoption, the study found. On a 10-point trust scale, Jamaicans rated their confidence in the technology at just 5.45. An overwhelming 81 percent of respondents backed calls for moderate to strict government regulation of AI systems, a result that Johnson says links directly to low public trust. He noted that building stronger public confidence in AI would encourage more widespread, innovative use of the technology across all sectors of the economy.
To address the gaps in AI skills and trust, the study put forward a series of actionable policy recommendations. These include launching a national public AI literacy campaign to deepen public understanding beyond surface-level awareness, expanding heavily subsidized AI skills training through existing national institutions like the HEART/NSTA Trust, providing targeted support for small businesses to integrate AI tools into their operations, and embedding AI education into primary and secondary school curricula to build AI skills from an early age.
When asked whether Jamaica is overall prepared to harness the full potential of generative AI, Johnson said the study shows the country has strong foundational potential, but needs to move far beyond the basic consumer use of AI tools that is currently common. He emphasized that regulation is a key, achievable step to boost readiness: “We’re ready for regulation. As you can see persons are aware of it, they are willing to use it but trust is a major factor. One of the factors that will drive trust is having necessary regulations in place to build that confidence. So when we say readiness that’s what we mean. Older persons, persons in the lower-income bracket, they are ready for training.”
Speaking during a post-launch panel discussion that included lead researchers and industry stakeholders, Christopher Reckford, chairman of Jamaica’s National AI Task-Force, echoed the call for urgent action. Reckford urged Jamaicans across all demographic groups to seize the economic opportunity presented by generative AI, noting that the technology has the unique potential to narrow long-standing digital and economic inequalities if access to skills is expanded broadly.