When headlines in major global newspapers trumpet artificial intelligence as the engine driving economic growth, it is easy for smaller economies to feel urgency — even panic. If Silicon Valley is sprinting ahead, if Wall Street is pouring billions into AI infrastructure, then surely we must follow.
Or so the narrative goes.
But Jamaica must pause before we copy and paste another country’s economic obsession into our own blueprint. We cannot afford to run go a foreign inna wi mind while Half-Way Tree traffic still jams, while land papers still take too long to process, while ordinary people are trying to build steady lives on solid ground.
Recent international analyses suggested that massive investment in artificial intelligence contributed little or nothing to real economic growth in the United States last year, despite enormous spending. That should not frighten us. It should clarify us.
Because Jamaica’s economic context is fundamentally different.
We are not a trillion-dollar technology economy. We are a tourism-dependent, remittance-supported, services-driven island nation rebuilding and recalibrating in real time. Our challenges — and our opportunities — are rooted in housing resilience, infrastructure modernization, digital inclusion, agricultural security and small-business expansion.
Artificial intelligence may become part of that story. But it is not the story.
And if we are not careful, we risk chasing a mirage overseas while ignoring the foundations beneath our own feet — forgetting that likkle but wi tallawah means building smart, not just building fast.
Growth on Paper vs. Growth on the Ground
In the United States, economists debated whether AI spending artificially inflated GDP numbers without meaningfully improving productivity for everyday citizens. That conversation belongs to them.
Here in Jamaica, the more relevant question is simpler:
Does this technology help ordinary Jamaicans build sustainable wealth?
GDP figures are useful. But they do not capture whether a young couple in St. Catherine can afford a starter home. They do not measure whether a small contractor in Montego Bay can access financing to expand. They do not tell us whether rebuilding efforts are strengthening communities or merely patching cracks.
Dean Jones, founder of Jamaica Homes and realtor associate, offers a perspective grounded in lived market experience:
“Economic growth is not what we announce in a press conference. It is what families feel when they can secure a home, build equity, and sleep without fear of losing it.”
That distinction matters.
Technology investment that does not translate into tangible improvements in housing access, mortgage literacy, property resilience or employment opportunities is little more than a glossy headline.
Jamaica cannot afford glossy headlines.
AI in a Jamaican Context: Promise, Not Panacea
Artificial intelligence can absolutely assist Jamaica. It can improve government service delivery. It can help financial institutions assess credit risk more efficiently. It can support climate modelling, logistics planning and even real estate market analysis.
But AI is a tool — not a substitute for economic strategy.
Unlike the United States, Jamaica does not have a deep venture capital ecosystem willing to absorb speculative losses. Our fiscal space is narrower. Our margin for miscalculation is smaller.
When major economies experiment, they do so with cushion. When small island states experiment recklessly, they do so with consequence.
This is not an argument against innovation. It is an argument for proportionality.
We should ask:
- Will AI improve land titling efficiency?
- Can it reduce bureaucratic delays in property transfers?
- Can it strengthen disaster-resistant design modelling?
- Can it expand digital mortgage prequalification tools?
If the answer is yes — and cost-effective — then Jamaica should proceed quickly.
But if AI spending becomes a prestige project detached from grassroots needs, then we risk building digital skyscrapers while citizens struggle with foundational realities.
And let us be clear: technology alone does not create prosperity. Sound governance, resilient infrastructure, education reform and access to capital do.
The Real Wealth Engine: Property Ownership
For Jamaica, real estate remains one of the most powerful pathways to generational wealth.
Not speculative flipping. Not hype-driven price spikes.
Ownership.
Land and housing anchor families. They provide collateral. They build equity. They stabilize communities. They attract diaspora investment.
In uncertain times, property is not glamorous. It is grounding.
Dean Jones articulates it plainly:
“Technology can accelerate transactions, but it cannot replace trust. In Jamaica, trust in property ownership remains the cornerstone of economic dignity.”
That sentence captures something fundamental.
AI may streamline valuations. It may predict market trends. It may automate listings. But it cannot substitute for the human realities of title security, boundary clarity, mortgage literacy and resilient construction standards.
If Jamaica invests in digital transformation, it must do so to strengthen these pillars — not distract from them.
Beware the Bubble Mentality
One lesson from global tech booms is this: capital can flood into an industry faster than real value materializes.
The dot-com bubble taught us that. The crypto surge reminded us again. AI may prove transformational — but transformation takes time, integration and disciplined oversight.
Jamaica’s economy is too intimate to absorb speculative manias comfortably. When investment surges distort asset prices, ordinary citizens feel it quickly — in rental costs, in material prices, in financing constraints.
We must avoid importing bubble psychology.
There is a temptation in policymaking circles to appear cutting-edge. But leadership is not about trend-chasing. It is about steady navigation.
Or as Jones puts it:
“The strongest economies are not built on excitement. They are built on consistency, discipline and long-term thinking.”
Excitement is loud. Discipline is quiet. The quiet path often wins.
Digital Inclusion Before Digital Ambition
If Jamaica is to leverage AI meaningfully, we must first address digital inclusion.
Reliable broadband access across rural parishes. Affordable devices. Cybersecurity education. Data governance frameworks. Privacy safeguards.
Artificial intelligence systems require robust digital infrastructure and trustworthy data ecosystems. Without those foundations, AI becomes a flashy import rather than a transformative local tool.
And digital literacy must accompany digital expansion.
A small contractor in Clarendon should not be locked out of opportunities because AI-driven procurement systems are inaccessible. A young entrepreneur in St. Thomas should not be sidelined by algorithmic processes they do not understand.
Technology must democratize opportunity — not centralize it.
The Reality We Must Face
If Jamaica ever finds itself boasting about AI-powered GDP growth while potholes remain unfilled and housing shortages persist, we may discover that even the smartest algorithm cannot fill a crater in Half-Way Tree.
Economic sophistication without practical impact becomes performance art.
And Jamaicans are far too perceptive to applaud performance over progress.
Housing Resilience Is the Quiet Revolution
In moments of rebuilding and recalibration, priorities sharpen.
Resilient housing standards. Insurance literacy. Mortgage restructuring flexibility. Climate-conscious construction. Updated land registration systems.
These are not glamorous headlines. But they are transformative.
AI could support these efforts — by mapping risk zones, forecasting construction costs, improving underwriting efficiency. But again, technology must serve strategy.
The strategic objective remains clear: strengthen the stability of Jamaican households.
Because stable households create stable communities. Stable communities attract investment. Investment drives sustainable growth.
It is a chain reaction rooted in reality, not speculation.
Lessons from Larger Economies — Applied Carefully
Let us be absolutely clear.
Jamaica must modernise.
Our bureaucracy is too heavy. Our processes are too slow. Too many Jamaicans still move from counter to counter, office to office, form to form, trying to complete what should be simple transactions. That inefficiency is not charming. It is costly.
Technology can help.
It can reduce processing backlogs.
It can streamline land registration.
It can translate across languages and markets to expand trade.
It can simplify procurement systems.
It can make government services faster, clearer and more transparent.
Used wisely, technology could shave months off approvals. It could reduce human error. It could expose inefficiencies we have quietly tolerated for too long.
That is not hype. That is practical reform.
But reform is not the same as surrender.
We cannot simply sprinkle AI across every ministry and call it transformation. We cannot digitise dysfunction and imagine we have solved it. A slow process automated without redesign is still a slow process — just faster at being frustrating.
Technology is a system layered onto a system.
If the underlying structure is cluttered, opaque or inconsistent, AI will magnify that. If the structure is disciplined, clear and accountable, AI will strengthen it.
So yes — Jamaica should modernise boldly.
But not blindly.
We should apply AI where it removes friction, where it expands access, where it reduces bureaucracy, where it improves trade and communication.
And we should pause where it distracts, duplicates or dazzles without delivering.
As we would say at home, “Tek time mek haste.” Move with urgency, but move with sense. Not every shiny system fits our soil. Not every global solution understands our local realities.
We do not need to resist the future. We need to shape it.
Because if we get this right, AI will not replace Jamaican ingenuity — it will amplify it. It will clear the bottlenecks. It will open the gates. It will make it easier for citizens to build, to trade, to register, to grow.
But wisdom must sit at the table before ambition. In the end, this is not about being anti-technology or pro-technology.
It is about being pro-Jamaica. And that means building systems that serve people — not impress headlines.
Steady. Strategic. Smart.
Because progress, like we say, nuh fi loud — it fi last.
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