We are the women on the StarApple AI and Adrian Dunkley team. We work in research, training, operations, client work, communications and the administration that keeps a Caribbean AI organisation running. For International Women's Day, we have written down what we wish someone had told us when we started using AI at work.
Your knowledge of Caribbean life improves AI systems
The specific knowledge you have about your community is missing from most AI development, and the tools are worse for it.
We have seen this at StarApple AI. When Caribbean women help design an AI programme, they raise cases others miss: the informal-economy worker whose finances do not fit a credit model, the Patois speaker a chatbot misreads, the health condition that presents differently in Caribbean women than in the training data. Each of those questions changes the design.
If you have professional expertise in any field, that knowledge is a technical contribution. Offer it in design meetings, pilot reviews and user testing.
Start before you feel qualified
Many of the high-achieving women we have trained wait longer than they should. They know their fields deeply, they have learned that mistakes can cost women more at work, and they want to understand AI fully, or hold a certificate, before using it.
Many of the men we have worked with try the tool first and learn by getting it wrong. They end up ahead because they started earlier.
Open an AI tool today and use it on one real task from your week: a report, an email you have been putting off, a spreadsheet. Expect the first attempt to be messy. By the tenth, you will know what it is good at.
Use your Caribbean context as expertise
Most AI systems are built in places where Caribbean English, Caribbean financial habits, Caribbean health profiles and Caribbean institutions are an afterthought. A woman who understands both AI and her Caribbean field has a combination that is scarce, and demand for it will grow as these tools are sold into the region and the mismatches start costing money.
In global AI communities, present Caribbean knowledge as specialist expertise. Give the example, name the error it prevents, and say what the fix is.
Build your network before you need it
Professional relationships are easier to build when you do not need anything yet. Four places to start:
- National AI groups and meet-ups in Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, and the StarApple AI community.
- LinkedIn: connect with Caribbean AI practitioners and comment on their posts with something specific.
- Events, in person or online, where Caribbean AI people meet. Ask one question at each.
- Women in AI, the global non-profit, which runs online events open to Caribbean members.
Contribute before you feel like an expert. Confidence grows faster from taking part than from watching.
Check what the tools tell you
AI tools are often wrong in fluent, confident language. Output can be factually incorrect, culturally off or biased in ways that are easy to miss.
A lawyer who does not check AI-generated case citations is at risk; courts in several countries have sanctioned lawyers for filing cases that did not exist. A clinician who takes diagnostic suggestions without applying clinical judgement endangers patients. A compliance officer who does not check the regulation cited is exposed. Use AI to draft, generate options and speed up research, then check every fact that matters against a source you trust.
Describe your AI work in plain, accurate terms
Women in technical fields often describe their work in hedged language while men doing the same work use confident technical terms. The same happens with AI.
If you use AI tools in your work, that is AI work. Evaluating systems for bias is AI ethics work. Designing training for AI tools is AI education. Studying how AI is changing your industry is AI research. Put those terms on your CV and LinkedIn profile, with the task and the result, as the FAQ below shows.
Why 2026 matters
The Caribbean's AI organisations, policies and training programmes are being set up now: who sits on task forces, which problems get funded, which communities are served first. Those early choices are harder to change later.
Women who take part this year will help decide those choices. We do not know how long it stays this open. We do know it is open now.
We are proud to be women on the StarApple AI team. We are proud of the work we do. And we want more Caribbean women doing this work alongside us. This International Women's Day, we hope this post is one small thing that helps make that happen.
What to do next
- This week: use an AI tool on one real work task, then check its output line by line and note every error you find.
- This month: complete one free introductory course, such as Elements of AI, in about an hour a week.
- Before the end of the quarter: add one AI line to your CV that names the tool, the task and the result.
- At your next team meeting: offer one Caribbean-specific case the tools your organisation uses may get wrong, and ask how it will be tested.
- Over the next three months: attend two Caribbean AI events, online or in person, and follow up with one person from each.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you need a computer science degree to work in AI in the Caribbean?
No. StarApple AI's team includes people trained in physics, economics, law, marketing, education and the social sciences. Many AI roles, such as training, product design, governance and sector specialist work, value domain knowledge and judgement more than coding. If you later want technical roles, a short course in Python and basic statistics is the usual next step.
Is there evidence that women use AI tools less than men?
Yes. A 2024 study by researchers at Harvard Business School, pooling surveys and usage data from many countries, found women were less likely than men to use generative AI tools, even when they had the same access. The gap matters because early users build skills and reputations first. The practical answer is the one in this post: start using the tools on real work now.
How should I describe AI skills on a CV?
Name the tool, the task and the result. "Used Claude to draft and check monthly compliance summaries, cutting preparation time from two days to one" says more than "AI-savvy". If you checked the output for errors or set rules for how your team uses AI, say so, because employers are looking for people who can use the tools safely, not just quickly.
What if my employer has no AI policy?
Ask your manager in writing which tools you may use and what data you may put into them, so you have an answer on record. Until then, do not paste customer names, account numbers, health details or confidential documents into a personal AI account. In Jamaica, personal data is covered by the Data Protection Act 2020, which your employer must follow whatever tool you use.
Where can Caribbean women find free AI training and networks?
Elements of AI, from the University of Helsinki, is a free online introduction that needs no coding. Women in AI, a global non-profit, runs online events open to Caribbean members, and the Caribbean AI Association publishes regional news and events. StarApple AI's bootcamps, linked below, are built for Caribbean professionals at every technical level.
Ready to build AI skills with a team that values your Caribbean perspective? StarApple AI's bootcamps are designed for Caribbean professionals at every level of technical background.
Join the StarApple AI Bootcamp