The global conversation on artificial intelligence often feels like a sprint between superpowers. But in the Caribbean, the approach is quieter, more deliberate and arguably more consequential. At The UWI, Dr Letetia Addison is helping to shape that approach, leading Trinidad and Tobago’s contribution to a UNESCO-backed Artificial Intelligence Readiness Assessment—an initiative that could define how the region adopts, adapts and ultimately owns its digital future. “We started with people, not platforms,” she says.
Dr Addison, a biostatistics lecturer at the Faculty of Medical Sciences, is a woman of many hats, moving fluidly across statistics, artificial intelligence, and policy. Her work sits at the intersection of data and decision-making, grounded in a belief that numbers—when used well—can chart a more deliberate path forward for small states navigating big technological shifts.
At the heart of the UNESCO initiative is what is known as the AI Readiness Assessment Methodology (RAM). It is, in essence, a diagnostic tool, one that evaluates how prepared a country is to adopt AI ethically, effectively, and in alignment with its national priorities.
“It’s a structured, evidence-based process to understand how ready we are—not just technologically, but socially, legally and culturally,” Dr Addison explains.
The assessment spans five key dimensions: legal and regulatory frameworks, technological infrastructure, education and research, societal and cultural readiness, and economic impact. The aim is not simply to measure capacity, but to translate that understanding into a roadmap for action.
And that roadmap is urgently needed.
While Trinidad and Tobago is not starting from scratch — benefiting from strong connectivity, a growing research base, and emerging AI hubs — the country finds itself in what Dr Addison describes as a “transitional readiness phase”.
“We have a solid foundation,” she says. “But what we need now is co-ordination.”
That word “co-ordination” emerges repeatedly. It is both the challenge and the opportunity. Across consultations with stakeholders—from government agencies to academic institutions and private sector actors — a consistent theme has surfaced: data exists, but it does not flow.
Systems operate, but often in isolation. Policies exist, but lack cohesion.
“The issue is not always a lack of data,” Dr Addison notes. “It’s that the data is siloed, inconsistent and not easily integrated. That becomes a bottleneck for AI.”
In a region where interoperability has long been an aspiration rather than a reality, AI has exposed the cost of fragmentation.
FLASHBACK: Dr Addison (back row, centre) with representatives of UWI St Augustine and the UNESCO Office for the Caribbean at the UNESCO RAM Validation Workshop 2026, hosted at the Office of the Campus Principal in February 2026. PHOTO: ANEEL KARIM
Beyond infrastructure, another layer complicates the equation: trust.
In small societies, where proximity often blurs the line between public and private, concerns around surveillance, bias, and data misuse are not abstract.
“Trust is not assumed. It has to be earned,” Dr Addison says.
That insight has shaped the Caribbean’s approach to AI in a fundamental way. Rather than retrofitting ethics after deployment, the emphasis is on embedding ethical considerations from the outset through public engagement, transparency, and inclusive system design. This is where the Caribbean’s approach begins to diverge from the global race to deploy AI at any cost.
While larger economies race to scale AI capabilities, often prioritising speed over scrutiny, the Caribbean is carving out a different lane, one that prioritises resilience, cultural relevance, and long-term sustainability.
In education, institutions are grappling with the reality that students are now “AI natives”, requiring not just new curricula, but new methods of assessment and engagement. In the public sector, there is growing recognition of AI’s potential to improve service delivery—if implemented without compromising individual rights. And in the private sector, businesses are beginning to explore how AI can be integrated in ways that are practical and cost-effective.
Perhaps most compelling is the work unfolding in climate resilience.
Dr Addison is part of a team developing AI-driven tools for disaster risk reduction; systems designed to move the region from reactive responses to proactive planning.
“We want to enhance early warning systems and improve real-time monitoring,” she explains. “It’s about making our traditional processes more efficient and more adaptive.”
For small island developing states (SIDS), where climate vulnerability is a lived reality, this is not theoretical innovation. It is a survival strategy, and we can’t depend on global AI models that do not account for or understand the realities of SIDS.
While the Caribbean may not compete with global powers in terms of scale, it has the potential to lead in specificity, to develop AI solutions rooted in its own realities, trained on its own data, and responsive to its own challenges.
“We have the opportunity to become producers, not just consumers, by strengthening talent pipelines across tertiary institutions,” Dr Addison says.
Looking ahead, the next phase of the UNESCO initiative will focus on translating assessment into action. This includes strengthening governance frameworks, building institutional capacity, fostering academic-industry partnerships, and ensuring that AI literacy becomes a baseline competency across sectors.
If successful, the outcome will not be an AI-powered utopia, nor a workforce displaced by automation. Instead, it will be something more measured, and perhaps more meaningful: a society where technology enhances human capability, rather than replacing it.
“I will always be a proponent of enhancing traditional systems, not replacing them,” she says.
In a world increasingly defined by acceleration, the Caribbean’s deliberate pace may prove to be its quiet advantage.
