Brown questions Govt’s plans for BPO sector under threat from AI

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Opposition Spokesman on Science, Technology and Digital Transformation, Christopher Brown, is sounding the alarm about the future of the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, whose employees are facing increasing threats from artificial intelligence (AI).Thousands of Jamaicans are employed in the sector.Brown gave the warning and accused the Government of being reactive during his contribution to the Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.The Member of Parliament for St Mary South Eastern told the story of one of his constituents, a mother of two in her late twenties who works in Kingston and sends money back home to her mother to help take care of her children.“She handles hundreds of calls a day, works hard and sends what she can home to help with the household. [She’s] trying with everything she has to build something for herself and her family. She works in one of Jamaica's call centres. She represents tens of thousands of Jamaicans — especially in Montego Bay and Kingston — whose livelihoods depend on this sector,” said Brown.“And right now — not in the future — but right now - companies running these call centres globally are testing AI systems that do exactly what she does; faster, cheaper,” Brown added .He noted that the Government formed an AI Task Force in August 2023 and that recommendations were published in 2025. He also cited that an assessment by UNESCO was completed in April 2026.“And they are [just] now, as of this sitting, beginning to draft a national AI policy. Three years [later]. And Jamaica still has no enacted plan,” Brown lamented.“What is the concrete plan for that young woman? Not a task force; not a workshop; not another assessment; a specific; funded; named programme,” he asked.According to Brown, this is how many other countries are approaching this matter. “While this government talks, gives grand speeches and intellectual analysis — presents symposiums on campuses and records all of those as progress. There are thousands of Jamaicans who, like this young lady, need the government to stop the glossy chat,” he said.