Miller Simpson warns about data drain as J’cans feed foreign AI services

WESTERN BUREAU:

Educator Ethnie Miller Simpson is expressing concern that while Jamaica is pumping information into artificial-intelligence (AI) systems at an accelerating rate, the country does not own the technology processing that data.

She has challenged Jamaica to move beyond simply consuming AI technology by developing home-grown platforms designed by Jamaicans, with the capacity to keep data from Jamaica and the wider Caribbean within the region.

Miller Simpson’s warning comes as AI rapidly moves from an emerging technology into an everyday workplace tool, transforming how administrative professionals perform their jobs.

“AI has transitioned from an experimental phase into a non-negotiable daily tool,” she said, addressing the recent Jamaica Association of Administrative Professionals (JAAP) convention.

She cautioned that embracing AI must not come at the expense of human judgment, creativity and independent thought.

“Do not allow the AI to think for you,” she warned.

Admitting that she uses AI in her own work, Miller Simpson said she first develops her material before using the technology to refine its wording and tone.

She said the transformation of the workplace is already forcing administrative professionals to expand their traditional roles, with technology creating responsibilities ranging from data-integrity auditing and project management to digital-payment coordination, customer relations, AI workflow management and privacy and data administration.

She pointed to the increasing use of digital wallets and point-of-sale systems, noting that administrative workers are now required to coordinate vendor upgrades, troubleshoot payment failures, and reconcile cash and digital transactions.

Those responsibilities, she said, would not traditionally have been considered part of the administrative function.

Miller Simpson went on to urged JAAP members to strengthen their project-management skills, predicting that within three years the competency could become almost essential for administrative professionals.

She identified emotional intelligence, adaptability and what she described as “psychological triaging” as emerging “power skills”, particularly as automation continues to eliminate routine tasks.

“Employee burnout has escalated to a board-level risk,” she said, describing administrative professionals as the “cultural glue” within many organisations.

Against that backdrop, she urged the professionals to become disruptors rather than victims of disruption by monitoring emerging trends, understanding their implications and helping their organisations respond.

Miller Simpson drew on her own career, including three periods of redundancy, to underscore the importance of continuous reinvention.

Using the S-curve – representing growth, a peak, a plateau and the beginning of another cycle – she urged the professionals to recognise when they need to change direction.

“I challenge you to always remember to embrace your S,” she said.

She also warned that workers who fail to reinvent themselves risk being overtaken by changes in technology, business practices and the wider economy.

“You need to become the disruptor, but you also need to disrupt yourself,” she said.

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com