Next Tuesday will mark a key milestone for Jamaica’s artificial intelligence strategy, as the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) hosts the official launch and public presentation of its landmark national Public AI Readiness Study. Titled *Jamaica: Opportunities, Gaps, and Priorities*, the event will convene a diverse cross-section of stakeholders — from government policymakers and industry executives to education leaders, civil society representatives, tech professionals, media and international development partners — to kickstart a national dialogue on inclusive development, data-driven planning, and national resilience in the fast-evolving AI era.
At the heart of the presentation is the long-awaited reveal of Jamaica’s first-ever Public AI Readiness Score, a custom national benchmark designed to quantify how prepared the Jamaican public is to understand, trust, access, deploy, and draw tangible benefits from both general and generative artificial intelligence. This benchmark is crafted to address the most pressing open questions surrounding Jamaica’s AI transition: Is the nation as a whole positioned to capitalize on the AI revolution? Which demographic and industry groups are already prepared to leverage the technology? Which communities and sectors risk being left behind in the shift? And what urgent actions must government, business, education institutions, and civil society take now to close gaps and build inclusive AI capacity?
Professor Lloyd Waller, SALISES director and co-lead researcher on the study, emphasized that the work aligns with the institute’s decades-long mission to generate actionable research to drive national and regional development. “Artificial intelligence is not simply a technology issue, it is a development issue,” Waller explained. “It will reshape how Jamaicans learn, work, conduct business, access critical public services, protect their personal data, and participate in national civic life. This study gives Jamaica the empirical foundation it needs to map our current position, identify who needs additional support, and ensure AI evolves as a tool for broader inclusion, higher productivity, stronger national resilience, and transformative national growth.”
Co-leading the research alongside Waller is Dr. Stephen Johnson, a research fellow based at SALISES’ Mona Campus at The University of the West Indies. Johnson noted that the readiness score is far more than a single metric: it converts aggregated public data on AI knowledge, attitudes, trust, concerns, access, usage patterns, and training needs into a clear signal for national strategic planning. “The readiness score is not just a number, it tells a story about Jamaica’s preparedness for one of the most important technological transitions of our time,” Johnson said. “It highlights where the public already has strong foundations, where critical gaps remain, and what types of targeted interventions are needed to ensure AI delivers benefits to the broad majority of Jamaicans, rather than just a small subset.”
The comprehensive study goes beyond surface-level analysis to examine a wide range of public experiences with AI: from general public knowledge of the technology and overall attitudes toward its adoption, to current usage rates, levels of trust, existing concerns, prior training exposure, access barriers, risk awareness, and capacity to benefit from AI tools. It also explores AI’s projected impacts across nearly every sector of Jamaican life, including employment, education, business productivity, public service delivery, misinformation risks, privacy protection, social inclusion, governance, and long-term national development.
Johnson stressed that the timing of the study’s release could not be more urgent, as AI has already begun integrating into every corner of Jamaican society. “AI is already reshaping Jamaica. It is entering classrooms, workplaces, government services, media systems, businesses, customer service platforms, research, tourism, health care, agriculture, and everyday life,” he noted. “The question is no longer whether AI will affect Jamaica — it already is. The more urgent question is whether Jamaica is prepared to use AI deliberately, safely, and inclusively.”
Framed around two core pillars, the report positions AI as a broad social and economic transformation challenge rather than a narrow technical issue. Its first core theme, development studies, centers the impact of AI on people, labor markets, public institutions, education systems, communities, and pathways to inclusive national growth. Its second core theme, data, provides actionable empirical evidence to help stakeholders move beyond ungrounded speculation, establishing a national baseline to guide planning for AI literacy expansion, digital inclusion, regulatory governance, workforce upskilling, public sector modernization, and responsible innovation.
Attendees of the launch event will leave with a clear breakdown of the study’s key findings, a full explanation of what the national AI readiness score means for Jamaica, an overview of how AI is expected to impact different sectors and population groups, and a roadmap of next steps for citizens, institutions, businesses, and policymakers to advance a fair and productive AI transition across the country.
