KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaica plans to introduce mandatory artificial intelligence (AI) training for government workers as part of efforts to improve public-sector efficiency and modernise service delivery, a senior government official has said.
The initiative was outlined by Trevor Forrest, Senior Advisor to the Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Science, Technology and Special Projects, Andrew Wheatley, during a plenary session at the 11th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference in Montego Bay.
Forrest said the programme will be rolled out across the public service and is intended to help government employees better understand AI, its ethical implications and its potential to improve operations within 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.
He noted that while technological tools are becoming more widely available, successful implementation depends on ensuring that public-sector workers are equipped to use them effectively.
Forrest said some employees remain hesitant about adopting new technologies because of concerns that they could replace existing jobs.
“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,” he said.
He argued that helping workers understand both the benefits and ethical considerations surrounding AI would encourage wider adoption and contribute to improved public services.
“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,” Forrest said.
He said the initiative forms part of broader efforts to prepare Jamaica’s workforce and institutions for an increasingly digital future while promoting the responsible use of artificial intelligence across the public sector.
