As artificial intelligence continues its accelerating transformation of global information consumption patterns, Jamaica is facing a critical gap in public digital preparedness, with a groundbreaking national survey showing just 30 percent of Jamaican adults have any working familiarity with deepfakes and AI-driven misinformation. The findings have prompted immediate calls from top industry and academic stakeholders for widespread investment in improving the nation’s digital literacy rates.
The peer-reviewed study was conducted by a team of social science researchers from the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) at The University of the West Indies, Mona. To ensure a representative snapshot of public knowledge across the country, the research team surveyed 1,072 respondents across all 14 of Jamaica’s parishes between October and December 2025.
At the official report launch held Tuesday, Cordel Green, Executive Director of the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica (BCJ), joined lead researchers and industry stakeholders for a panel discussion on the study’s implications. During the conversation, Green emphasized that growing global digitization has left populations far more exposed to the harms of unchecked misinformation, particularly as AI tools become more accessible to bad actors.
Responding to a question from SALISES Director Professor Lloyd Waller on how Jamaicans can build resilience against malicious AI misuse, Green outlined the BCJ’s long-standing policy position on digital harm: For nearly 20 years, the Commission has rejected top-down, paternalistic regulatory approaches as the primary solution to digital risks. Instead, Green argued that the most effective regulatory tool for the digital age is widespread public digital media and information literacy.
Professor Waller highlighted additional alarming findings from the survey: Beyond low public awareness of deepfakes, only six percent of the Jamaican population has received any formal training in how AI technologies operate. While the study did not find evidence that Jamaica’s current cybersecurity infrastructure is facing widespread AI-driven attacks, Waller noted the research confirms the nation’s population remains highly vulnerable to AI-fueled scams, deepfake disinformation, and online hoaxes.
Green further noted that the rapid pace of AI innovation creates unique ongoing challenges for policymakers and educators. “We are even now talking about artificial intelligence and it is developing so rapidly that we have to put our hubris in check because the AI we are talking about today is not the AI we are going to talk about in another five years,” he explained. Looking ahead, he pointed to emerging convergence between neuroscience and AI as what he called the “mother of all transformation,” a shift that poses unprecedented challenges to personal autonomy. He cautioned that much global attention is currently focused on visible AI innovations, a focus that benefits high-profile tech leaders like Elon Musk, who are simultaneously advancing neurotechnology that could encroach on what Green called “the last bastion of human freedom.”
Green stressed that both the Jamaican government and the general public must prioritize expanding digital literacy to protect human integrity amid rapid technological change. Aligning with Green’s recommendations, the SALISES study includes multiple policy proposals to close the literacy gap. First, it calls on the government to launch nationwide public literacy campaigns, and integrate formal AI education into national school curricula through trusted existing agencies such as HEART Trust/NSTA. This training would equip the public with the skills needed to identify algorithmic manipulation and disinformation.
The study also recommends establishing dedicated national AI learning hubs, which would serve as free community resources for low-income and rural Jamaicans who are currently at highest risk of being excluded from critical digital safety education. Beyond public education, the survey captures clear public support for targeted government action: 81 percent of respondents back strict government regulation and oversight of AI as a necessary deterrent against malicious misuse for identity theft and disinformation campaigns.
Finally, the study emphasizes a core priority for Jamaican consumers: 81 percent of respondents support maintaining human accountability as the foundation for decision-making, with AI restricted to a supplementary role. This framework ensures all critical decisions and public information claims are subject to human verification to prevent preventable harmful errors.