Gain leverage in an AI-driven economy

AI in Education: Why We Need Transformation, Not Just Improvement

By Maria Mercedes Mateo-Berganza Diaz

Highlights

We are educating for a world that no longer exists: AI is being layered onto systems designed for a pre-digital era, even as evidence shows technology is already reshaping cognition, learning patterns, and mental health.

Incremental improvement misses the scale of the challenge: using AI to optimize existing practices cannot address the learning crisis, inequality, or relevance; only system-level transformation can.

Future value depends on strong foundations plus human judgment: education must prioritize general skills that enable complex, “messy” work—where execution, reasoning, and adaptability remain beyond AI.

We stand at a rare moment in history: a chance to fundamentally reimagine education for a world that technology has already transformed.

This is not a distant future: it is the reality we are living now and there is no way back. Recent work, including the book Artificial Intelligence and Education in the Global South, brings this urgency into sharp focus, reminding us that the central question is no longer whether AI belongs in education. 

Technology has already reshaped how we learn, think, and work. The real opportunity lies in understanding what this moment demands of us: not incremental improvements to existing systems, but genuine transformation—one that prepares students for work and life in an AI-augmented world.  Here's what the latest research tells us about getting this right.  We're not simply adding AI to education. We're introducing it into a world already fundamentally reshaped by technology—and that distinction matters profoundly.

The Reality We're Already Living

Consider how dramatically our world has shifted. In the 1930s, we spent most of our time with family and friends. Today, we spend 60% of our time online. Misha Rubin’s animation illustrates the evolution of how humans spend their time between 1930 and 2024. Recent research reveals that infant screen exposure (children 0-2) has lasting impacts on brain development and adolescent mental health, with higher infant screen time showing accelerated maturation of brain networks. This acceleration isn't beneficial—certain brain networks develop too quickly, before establishing the efficient connections needed for complex thinking, potentially limiting flexibility and resilience later in life. 

For adolescents navigating critical prefrontal cortex development, the effects of social media, cyberbullying, and isolation are equally concerning. And a 2025 MIT study demonstrated that over-reliance on AI tools for cognitive tasks creates what researchers call "cognitive debt": reduced neural engagement, impaired memory recall, and weaker sense of essay ownership among students who used AI support to develop essays.

Improvement vs. Transformation

This context demands more than incremental change. Educational improvement—using AI to make existing practices slightly more efficient or support teachers in current frameworks—is insufficient. These improvements are localized, difficult to scale, and fundamentally maintain the status quo. 

What we need is educational transformation: systemic change that addresses our most fundamental challenges—the learning crisis, inequality, and relevance—at scale and sustainably.   Transformation requires complete systemic alignment across curriculum, teaching methods, assessment, and governance. 

Simply put: improvement optimizes parts of the system.  Transformation changes how the system works.

Balancing Foundations and Futures

The key lies in understanding how human capital actually develops.  A 2023 paper, "Deconstructing Human Capital to Construct Hierarchical Nestedness" analyzed U.S. occupational data and revealed that human capital is hierarchically structured, not flat.  The research identifies two types of specialized skills:

- Un-nested specialized skills can be acquired without a strong general foundation, but they offer limited economic returns.

- Nested specialized skills build upon robust general capabilities.  These are associated with career progression and significant wage premiums.  Premium workers don't simply pile up narrow skills; they deepen general competencies with strategic specializations.

The conclusion is clear: to construct valuable specialized skills, workers and economies must first invest in strong general skills.  Specialization without this foundation delivers weaker economic returns.

The Choice Between Single-Task and Messy Jobs

Professor Luis Garicano offers a complementary insight about the future of work.  We face a fundamental choice between two job paths:

Single-task jobs are increasingly vulnerable.  AI excels at automating well-defined, single tasks.  While humans remain in the loop today due to error rates that still persist in many fields (preventing unsupervised AI), those errors are decreasing rapidly.

Messy jobs, those combining multiple tasks, judgment, local knowledge, relationships, and real-world execution, are far more resilient.  AI doesn't thrive at these kinds of tasks.

Garicano's conclusion: take the messy job, where learning, judgment, and execution matter, because that's where humans will retain value and gain leverage in an AI-driven economy.

What This Means for Education

If we want AI to augment humans rather than replace them, we must balance foundational learning and core competencies with emerging specialized skills.   Students need strong general skills as the foundation for developing nested specialized capabilities that lead to resilient, complex work.

AI commoditizes codified knowledge, but it doesn't replace execution, coordination, empathy, political navigation, or tacit knowledge.   These uniquely human capabilities flourish in environments that demand judgment, synthesis, and adaptive thinking.

The Path Forward

This isn't about making our current education system work slightly better.  It's about fundamentally rethinking what education means in a world where technology has already transformed how we think, learn, and work. 

The question isn't whether to use AI in education.  It's whether we'll transform our educational systems to prepare students for a world where their value lies not in what they know, but in how they think, connect, adapt, and execute in messy, complex, human contexts.  

That's the transformation we need.

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We invite you to explore the IDB’s report on Artificial Intelligence and Education, that examines the role of artificial intelligence through the lens of what we already know from decades of digital education. Across Latin America and the Caribbean, teachers and school leaders are asking the same question: How can we use artificial intelligence to help every student learn better? In this blog we share how 193 real AI initiatives are already transforming teaching, inclusion, and school management, and what it means for the future of education.   

Also, discover how teachers across the region are already integrating AI into their classrooms — based on new data from CIMA Note #37, drawn from the international TALIS 2024 survey.

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Mark Carney DAVOS 2026 speech

 

CARNEY ELECTRIFIES: GROWS INTO HIS OWN AS A WORLD LEADER!

By Professor Gilbert Morris
Nassau, N.P., The Bahamas

Hon. Mark Carney’s DAVOS 2026 speech was the finest by a western leader since 1945.

Carney admitted: THE ENTIRE WESTERN ENTERPRISE OF A RULE GOVERNED WORLD ORDER HAS BEEN A LIE: invasions, bogus regime changes, sponsored genocides must all be rejected.

We must turn to “principled pragmatism”: a beautiful term for framing a cooperative world order; pioneered by role model nations like l Singapore, Denmark, Norway, New Zealand, Netherlands, Sweden, Iceland and Estonia.

Canada struck a blow for the only sort of world order in which nations like The Bahamas and other middle states can survive.  But Singapore’s Prime Minister Hon. Lawrence Wong, former Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, its former foreign Minister Hon. George Yeo and its former Ambassdor to the UN, H.E. Kishore Mahbubani made similar speeches during the last four months.

With artful aplomb, Carney also foregrounded diplomatic honesty as a key principle and practise.

Carney admitted openly, that Canada was complicit “living within the lies” of the old order.

HERE IS HOW HE PUT IT (EXCERPT):  

“Every day we are reminded that we live in an era of great power rivalry.  That the rules-based order is fading.  That the strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must.

This aphorism of Thucydides is presented as inevitable – the natural logic of international relations reasserting itself.  And faced with this logic, there is a strong tendency for countries to go along to get along.  To accommodate.  To avoid trouble.  To hope that compliance will buy safety.

It won’t.

So, what are our options?

In 1978, the Czech dissident Václav Havel wrote an essay called The Power of the Powerless.  In it, he asked a simple question: how did the communist system sustain itself?

His answer began with a greengrocer.  Every morning, this shopkeeper places a sign in his window: “Workers of the world, unite!”  He does not believe it.  No one believes it.  But he places the sign anyway – to avoid trouble, to signal compliance, to get along.  And because every shopkeeper on every street does the same, the system persists. 

Not through violence alone, but through the participation of ordinary people in rituals they privately know to be false.

Havel called this “living within a lie.”  The system’s power comes not from its truth but from everyone’s willingness to perform as if it were true.  And its fragility comes from the same source: when even one person stops performing — when the greengrocer removes his sign — the illusion begins to crack.

It is time for companies and countries to take their signs down.

For decades, countries like Canada prospered under what we called the rules-based international order.  We joined its institutions, praised its principles, and benefited from its predictability.  We could pursue values-based foreign policies under its protection.

We knew the story of the international rules-based order was partially false.  That the strongest would exempt themselves when convenient.  That trade rules were enforced asymmetrically.  And that international law applied with varying rigour depending on the identity of the accused or the victim. 

This fiction was useful, and American hegemony, in particular, helped provide public goods: open sea lanes, a stable financial system, collective security, and support for frameworks for resolving disputes.

So, we placed the sign in the window.  We participated in the rituals.  And largely avoided calling out the gaps between rhetoric and reality.

This bargain no longer works.”

IN FACT THE BARGAIN NEVER WORKED…EVERYONE - ITS VICTIMS ESPECIALLY - KNEW IT WAS A LIE! 

CORE OF THE SPEECH FOR ME:

1. Canada was like gangster Tony Soprano’s wife: it went along with Tony (US) and benefited and when after all that blind loyalty, Tony turn on her (Trump’s abuse of Canada), she spoke as if innocent.

2. As such, I’m touched by Carney’s unprecedented honesty in reference the thinking person’s hero Vaclav Havel - the playwright President - who used the metaphor of the complicit shopkeeper in the old soviet system; whose mundane habits kept the system going.

Every country expecting to survive within a RULES BASED SYSTEM should call on Carney now reaffirming their commitment; as he seems possessed of the inner steel of a great man.  But do not assume that his load is light or the wisdom and courage of his posture makes him safe; even at home in Canada.

There are US influenced Canadians who say he should let the U.S. abuse happen and just ride it out.  He has separatist and MAGA flares in Quebec and Alberta; with noisy little groups wearing 51st state T-shirts.  As such he has to hold Canada together as he attempts to galvanise the world out of its lazy, cowardly complicity.

But Carney is not merely talking…like Dr Nigel Clarke former Jamaican Finance Minister - expert skill and experience changed the global equation: Carney never reacts.  MAGA gloated that Canada would come running back. But instead in just 6 months…Carney completed 50 trade deals…because when one knows what one is doing, timescales are paper thin! 

Whilst Europe and NATO languish as desperate chatter boxes and linger at great risk, Carney has spoken more firmly and courageously than any Euopean leader in its history: insisting ArticleV will be honoured; breathtaking that such a statement comes from within NATO toward a founding member of NATO….but as Lenin said: only Christian democracies attack each other and plunge the entire world into war. 

It’s happen twice already. 

 

There hasn’t been a single great leader on the world’s stage since the death of LeeKuanYew: Carney is emerging, but like all things…in this time, yet only for a time.

ACT NOW!

Source / Comment

THE IMPACT of THE U.S. TEMPORARY VISA PAUSE on THE BAHAMAS and BAHAMIAN CITIZENS

Nassau, N.P., The Bahamas - 

CLARIFICATION ON THE US TEMPORARY VISA PAUSE

The visa pause announced via social media by the U.S. State Department today applies to Bahamians seeking immigrant visas.  The suspension will not apply to applicants seeking non-immigrant visas, or temporary tourist, student or business visas.  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sought clarification on what this means for pending immigrant visa applications.

Further, the arrangement between The Bahamas and the United States for travel via police record remains in place.  The official source of U.S. visa information is:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news.html

Source

Free The Bahamas Trump!

An Open Letter to U.S. President, Donald J. Trump - from a Concerned Bahamian Citizen

A Cry for International Intervention and Investigation Into Alleged Corruption Within the Government of The Bahamas

Dear President Trump,

Firstly, I wish to acknowledge and commend your firm stance against corruption, authoritarianism, and criminal influence in the Western Hemisphere.  Many small nations look to strong leadership from the United States when democratic institutions are under threat.

My name is Brittany Harris.  I am a Bahamian national, a legal resident of Canada, a mother of four minor children, and an activist and whistleblower advocating for abused women, children, and vulnerable communities.  I write to you today out of desperation and deep concern for the future of my country, The Bahamas.

Mr. President, I respectfully ask that you consider authorizing or encouraging a thorough international and U.S. supported investigation into serious and ongoing allegations of corruption within the government of The Bahamas, under the leadership of Prime Minister Philip Edward Davis.

Under this administration, our country is rapidly deteriorating.  There is widespread belief among Bahamians that: Millions of dollars in public funds are missing, with little to no development or national improvement to show for it;

Members of the current administration are engaging in unchecked theft, abuse of power, and protection of individuals connected to them;

Innocent citizens, activists, and whistleblowers who speak out are being targeted, arrested, and victimized, while individuals connected to political power are shielded from accountability.

Of grave concern is the belief held by many Bahamians that immigration policy is being deliberately manipulated for political survival.  We are receiving alarming information that Haitian nationals are entering The Bahamas directly from Haiti allegedly already in possession of Bahamian passports, despite being unable to speak English or demonstrate ties to our nation.  Many Bahamians fear this is part of an effort to engineer a new voting bloc to maintain political power, as the current administration has lost the trust of the Bahamian people and faces growing public opposition.

Mr. President, we are a small nation with limited power to confront systemic corruption alone.  We are pleading for international oversight before our democracy collapses entirely.

I also respectfully ask that your administration conduct a close review of the recent U.S. indictment involving members of the Bahamian police force.  Many Bahamians strongly believe that the true mastermind behind this criminal activity may be a political figure, and that officers are being forced or allowed to take the fall to protect powerful individuals.

I do not make these claims lightly.  I make them at great personal cost.  I have already suffered detention, imprisonment, and separation from my children for speaking out.  I fear what may come next, not only for myself, but for my country.

Mr. President, we are asking for help.  We are asking for transparency, accountability, and protection for those brave enough to speak the truth.  The Bahamas needs international attention before it is too late.

Respectfully,

Brittany Harris

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Bahamian National | Canadian Resident

Activist & Advocate for Abused Women and Children

Source / Comment

Eye Care Technology

How low-cost, high-impact technology can transform healthcare delivery in remote settings

Smartphones, AI, and Glasses: Reaching Remote Communities with Portable Eye Care

By Natalia Monica Laguyas, Leonardo Goes Shibata, Caio Abujamra, Frank Hida

About 80% of our interaction with the world happens through our eyes.  Now imagine gradually losing your sight while living in a remote Indigenous community in Brazil, far from specialized care.  How hard would it be to carry out your daily activities?

This is the challenge that Aldeia em Foco (“Village in Focus”) set out to solve.  Supported by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), IDB Lab, and partners such as the Suel Abujamra Institute, GoodVision, and Japan’s OUI Inc., the project delivers accessible eye care to some of the most isolated regions of the Amazon.

Trained community workers can perform screenings in just 15 minutes using a smartphone, a small camera attachment and AI-powered image analysis.  Images are uploaded to the cloud, where AI detects abnormalities and connects patients to specialists remotely.  This simple, low-cost model removes logistical barriers to eye care in places without medical infrastructure.

Immediate Solutions, Lasting Impact

In addition to diagnosis, Aldeia em Foco provides on-site vision correction through GoodVision’s modular glasses, which can be assembled and adjusted to each person’s needs within minutes—addressing about 70% of visual problems detected.

So far, the project has reached over 100 villages in 11 Brazilian states, delivering 25,000 screenings, 18,000 consultations, 16,000 glasses, and nearly 370 surgeries.   It has also trained almost 700 local workers for basic eye health access, creating a sustainable care network that continues beyond project visits.

'Saving a patient’s vision is almost as important as saving their life'

— Dr. Eisuke Shimizu, ophthalmologist and CEO of OUI Inc., which developed the Smart Eye Camera (SEC) used in the project.

This approach also makes economic sense.  According to the Value of Vision study by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, every $1 invested in eye health yields $28 in return. In Brazil, an investment of $295 million between 2026 and 2030 could generate $8 billion in economic benefits.  Better vision means higher productivity, more active older adults, and stronger communities—proof that eye care is not only a health priority but a smart investment in inclusion and growth.

Scaling Health Innovation for Broader Impact

Aldeia em Foco shows how low-cost, high-impact technology can transform healthcare delivery in remote settings.  Its model—combining innovation, training, and international collaboration—offers a replicable blueprint for inclusive healthcare innovations across Latin America and beyond.

Highlighting the global collaboration and innovation, this project has already received an IDB Innovation Award that focuses on its potential to transform healthcare delivery in underserved regions.

By integrating this approach into public programs and exploring partnerships with the private sector, countries can expand access to essential eye care while strengthening resilience and equity in their health systems.

Restoring sight means restoring independence, dignity, and opportunity.  And as Aldeia em Foco proves, a clearer vision for one person can illuminate the path toward a healthier, more prosperous and inclusive future for all.

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The Bahamas Government Cannot Explain $1.56M Contract or Its Own Role in Approving It

The Bahamas Prime Minister, The Hon. Philip Edward Davis - as the minister responsible for the Public Procurement Unit, must explain how his administration has committed more than $400M in public Works through no-bid contracts in clear violation of the Public Procurement Act

FREE NATIONAL MOVEMENT, 144 MACKEY STREET, P.O. BOX N-10713 | NASSAU, N.P., THE BAHAMAS - (242) 393-7853

Dr. Duane Sands, Chairman of the Free National Movement: Questions Multiply as Government Cannot Explain $1.56M Contract or Its Own Role in Approving It

The Free National Movement is pleased that our inquiry into the government's $1.56M no-bid contract has finally forced the government to respond.  Unfortunately, the explanation offered by the chairman of the Public  Procurement Board raises even more troubling questions.

Instead of clarity, the public has been given a justification that defies logic, contradicts basic procurement standards, and deepens concerns about how and why this contract was awarded.  There is still no credible explanation for why a contract of this size was handed out without competitive bidding when government personnel reportedly valued the scope of works at no more than $450,000.

If the issue was truly urgent, the chairman's own admission that there was enough time to secure an external valuation proves that there was also enough time to invite capable Bahamian contractors to compete for the job.

This was not an unforeseen emergency.  lt was a known problem that could have and should have gone to tender.

We still do not know why the Bahamian taxpayer is carrying the full cost of major repairs in a building where the government is a tenant.  The public deserves to know why the landlord is not responsible for these extensive upgrades and remediation works.  That basic question remains unanswered.

We also cannot accept the government's attempt to justify why this contract was routed through the Ministry of Finance rather than through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Ministry of Works, both of which have the mandate and expertise for such matters.

The Public Finance Management Act already gives the Ministry of Finance the authority to reallocate resources to any agency that needs them.  The public must ask why the Ministry of Finance became the signatory on a foreign affairs contract, particularly in a procurement environment already clouded by secrecy and political interference.

Now that the Procurement Board has broken its silence, the Prime Minister must answer for the larger pattern this contract represents.  As the minister responsible for the Public Procurement Unit, he must explain how his administration has committed more than $400M in public Works through no-bid contracts in clear violation of the Public Procurement Act . The law requires competitive bidding except in narrow circumstances.  This government continues to ignore that law and award contracts to hand-picked companies without transparency or accountability.

The Bahamian people deserve to know why these deals continue to be signed behind closed doors.  They deserve to know who approves them.  They deserve to know who benefits.  And they deserve a government that respects the rules instead of bending them to suit political allies.

This contract is not an isolated incident.  It is part of a wider culture of mismanagement and insider advantages that has defined the PLP's record.  The FNM will continue to demand answers and continue to fight for transparent, accountable procurement practices that protect taxpayers and support fair competition for Bahamian contractors.

December 1, 2025

Viewpoint on The Golden Isles By-Election

Perspectives on The Golden Isles By-Election - Monday 24 November, 2025

From Sean McWeeny, former PLP Cabinet Minister and Attorney General

Some random takeaways on yesterday’s bye-election:

1. That crown on Pintard’s head can rest more securely today than yesterday.   By performing impressively in yesterday’s bye-election (even winning a majority of the polling divisions 8-6), the FNM and Pintard can point to all that as evidence that he is indeed a viable leader of a resurgent Party - no need to send a SOS out to Papa!

2. The COI lost its deposit yesterday (you need to get more than 1/6th or 16.6% of the total votes cast to save your deposit).  With only 6% of the vote, the COI fell well short of that.

Frankly, for all the noise they were making and all the social media coverage they were getting, I thought they would have done better than they did (then again voters may have had Lincoln-fatigue by the end of it all). Still, they prevented the PLP from winning an outright majority of the total votes cast yesterday.  It could also be argued that the COI cost the FNM the election yesterday by garnering 221 votes which, if added to the FNM’s tally, would have given the FNM the victory.  But that’s what spoilers do.   And the COI are certainly shaping up to be spoilers in “close“ seats in the next General Election. Bottom line : they can't win but they can cause you to lose.

3. Darren Pickstock has a lot to be personally proud of and so do Brave Davis, Jerome Fitzgerald and Kevin Simmons (the latter two as campaign managers).  Darren came into Golden Isle a virtual unknown to constituents (in contrast to the FNM’s candidate who had good solid history there).  In just 41 days, Darren made the rounds, showed himself to be a class act from start to finish, and ended up in victory.

4. Finally, the PLP has its work cut out for it.  Yesterday’s results will no doubt be seen (and felt) as a knock in the head, all the more so when one considers the massive firepower and resources the government had brought to bear.

All of it turned out to be a bit underwhelming if the final count is anything to go by.  But the PLP will no doubt see the results as a call to re-assess, reset, and do some things differently in the run-up to the Big One.  If, however, yesterday’s results are interpreted as an affirmation that all is hunky-dorry and right on track, or if nothing but excuses are forthcoming now as to why the PLP didn’t get more votes yesterday, the cycle that has seen every single governing party in the past five General Elections get tossed out after just one term is bound to repeat itself - again.  Sean