The Caribbean stands at a pivotal moment in its digital evolution. Artificial intelligence is no longer a distant abstraction; it is embedded in the systems that shape our economies, our governance, and increasingly, our cultural memory. Yet as AI accelerates globally, the Caribbean finds itself in a familiar position — deeply entangled in the machinery of technological progress but rarely recognized as an architect of its direction.
Our region contributes far more to the global AI economy than most people realize. Caribbean digital labour — from content moderation to annotation to linguistic tagging — quietly supports the training of large AI models. Our cultural expressions, dialects, public‑sector records, and online interactions are absorbed into datasets that power systems used around the world. And yet, the region receives little visibility, little compensation, and even less control.
This asymmetry is not accidental. It is the predictable outcome of a legal and policy vacuum that treats Caribbean data as if it belongs to no one. A modern fiction I call data nullius.
The Fiction of Ownerless Data
Historically, “terra nullius” was used to justify the seizure of land deemed “empty,” despite the presence of Indigenous peoples. Today, a similar logic operates in the digital sphere. When Caribbean data is not explicitly protected, it is treated as unowned — and therefore freely extractable.
This fiction allows external platforms to absorb Caribbean cultural and linguistic data into proprietary AI models without regional oversight. It allows global companies to monetize the labour of Caribbean workers while the region captures only a fraction of the value created. And it allows AI systems trained on our data to influence our societies without our participation in their design or governance.
Data nullius is not simply a legal gap. It is a structural vulnerability — one that places the Caribbean at risk of becoming a permanent standards‑taker in the global AI economy.
The Numbers Tell a Clear Story
Across the region:
- A significant share of digital infrastructure is operated by external platforms, placing control of data flows outside regional jurisdiction.
- The vast majority of AI tools used in public institutions are imported, with no regional standards governing how they interact with Caribbean data.
- Only a small number of CARICOM states have dedicated AI governance frameworks, leaving most countries dependent on foreign norms and private‑sector defaults.
These conditions create what I call the Execution Gap — the widening space between our policy aspirations and our operational capabilities.
We are not short on vision.
We are not short on talent.
What we lack is the ability to convert regional ambition into coordinated, enforceable, sovereign action.
Why This Matters for the Caribbean
AI systems trained on Caribbean data will increasingly shape:
- how our public institutions make decisions
- how our languages are represented
- how our histories are interpreted
- how our economies evolve
- how our citizens are profiled, categorized, and understood
Without sovereignty, the Caribbean risks repeating an old pattern: our resources — this time digital — enriching systems that do not answer to us.
The digital plantation is not a metaphor. It is a structural condition in which extraction is normalized and ownership is obscured.
From Standards‑Taker to Sovereign Actor
The path forward does not require massive infrastructure or abstract declarations. It requires practical, coordinated steps that reflect the realities of small states navigating a global technological order.
Three actions are immediately within reach:
- Assert Interim IP and Data Protections
Caribbean cultural, linguistic, and institutional data must be recognized as assets with ownership, value, and rights. This closes the data‑nullius loophole and establishes a foundation for negotiation.
- Build a Caribbean Data Commons
Pooling regional data power strengthens bargaining capacity and ensures that Caribbean data is governed by Caribbean rules. No single state can negotiate effectively in isolation.
- Deploy Small, Sovereign AI Tools for Public Institutions
Sovereignty begins with tools that work now — systems that support justice, health, education, and public administration in ways that reflect regional priorities and values.
These steps are not symbolic. They are operational. And they are necessary if the Caribbean is to shape its digital future rather than inherit one designed elsewhere.
A Region at a Crossroads
The Caribbean has always been more than a site of extraction. We have been creators, innovators, and interpreters of global change. The AI era should be no different.
But sovereignty is not something we declare. It is something we build — through law, through policy, through shared infrastructure, and through the courage to define our own digital destiny.
The question before us is simple:
Will the Caribbean continue to fuel the global AI economy without recognition or return, or will we choose to become sovereign actors in shaping the systems that increasingly shape us?
The answer will determine not only our digital future, but our place in the world that AI is rapidly remaking.
