Trinidad and Tobago is marking a digital milestone, becoming home to the Caribbean’s first WhatsApp-integrated artificial intelligence assistant, launched by the National Payment and Innovation Company of Trinidad and Tobago (NPICTT) on Thursday.
“CitizenAI” is designed to deliver localised, data-driven insights tailored to the Trinidad and Tobago environment and the wider Caribbean region.
Innovative Manager at NPICTT, Jeston Lett, says as the first AI solution in the Caribbean integrated into WhatsApp, it functions much like existing global platforms but with a distinctly local focus.
“An agent that sits in your WhatsApp that allows you to chat in the same way that you would do with any other AI solution. So think a local version of ChatGPT, a local version of Gemini, but it’s able to be right there in your WhatsApp, and you can chat in any way.”
CitizenAI aims to address gaps in local research and development by providing insights grounded in Trinidad and Tobago, such as specific data, while also reflecting the broader Caribbean context.
Minister of Planning, Economic Affairs and Development, Dr. Kennedy Swaratsingh, challenged the perception that older citizens struggle to adapt to emerging technologies.
“I disagree with the fact that people think that we shouldn’t, or how will ordinary persons who may not be tech-savvy access this? It’s all there, and let’s not do them a disservice. In my view, I think sometimes we underestimate people’s desire to want to adopt some of these things.”
Echoing those sentiments, Chairman of NPICTT, Dr. Nigel Fulchan, revealed that adoption rates among older users are in fact higher than expected.
“So really we underestimate even the older folks in the system, you know, out there, that they’re not using technology, when they are the ones who are changing and adopting it at a faster rate because the younger generation, it’s all built into their systems, but the rate of adoption is really happening at the over-50s.”
CitizenAI represents part of NPICTT’s broader push toward innovation, extending beyond its traditional role in digital payment solutions.