Will AI Eventually Replace Human Labor in Belize?

In today’s rapidly evolving job market, one tool is revolutionizing how businesses operate, and it’s more than just a trend—it’s a transformation. This game-changer is called Artificial Intelligence. From boosting productivity to efficiently handling emails and WhatsApp messages, AI is becoming the go-to solution for many companies. Today, digital creators from various sectors of Belize’s business community attended a workshop to learn more about this exciting new trend that’s gaining traction in Belize. News Five’s Marion Ali reports.

 

Marion Ali, Reporting

Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is making waves across various industries and creative fields, transforming the way we work and innovate. To stay ahead of this trend, Avant Guard Marketing Agency, led by Maynor Larrieu, hosted a workshop to bring the discussion of AI and robotics to the forefront in Belize.

 

Maynor Larrieu, Managing Director, Avant Guard Marketing Agency

“The aim I had was to – and the vision with the agency was to provide this opportunity because many times very few selected professionals have the opportunity to go abroad and one of my sponsors, Atlantic Bank mentioned, “Man, I’m so happy you organized something like this because if I had gone abroad, it would’ve been just me, you know, because of the cost to involving being out of the country and because you did this in the country, I have a team of eight people being able to participate.”

 

 

In many offices in developed countries, AI is now seen as a digital co-worker. Chatbots handle basic inquiries, while AI-driven platforms assist with scheduling, document review, and hiring processes, significantly reducing manual labor hours. David Cabrera, Executive Director of the Centre for the Promotion of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Central America, shared insights on how people can leverage AI to enhance their work.

 

David Cabrera, Executive Director, CENPROME

“It depends that the skills that you use or the resources that you use in AI and in just business, for example, a service company can use it for better design of services, for better accountability of your business, for better investment or searching of investment for my business. You can use it for better research of knowledge about your clients. You can use AI to know better your market in the country and outside the country.”

 

 

 

Marion Ali

“Knowing what to ask and how to ask it is key.”

 

David Cabrera

“ Exactly, because if you ask a bad [question], the answer will give you a bad solution.”

 

The Statistical Institute of Belize reports that the country has an unemployment rate of less than five percent. But with more companies adopting AI as an efficient cost-cutting measure, will this number be affected? Efren Perez, President of the Belize Tourism Industry Association, believes that AI and robotics will actually create opportunities for investing in human resources in other areas of employment.

 

Efren Perez, President, B.T.I.A.

“If we look at it from a small hotel point of view, the hotel layer is engulfed in so many moving parts, just running the hotel on a home. And so when you incorporate AI to do some of the most monotonous things, it frees up yourself for you to concentrate more on the guest experience, right, not taking away whatsoever the jobs of those that work because we need that personalized service in tourism. For example, the cleaning ladies that would have to be mopping the floor, maybe they could be utilized in another area that would be able to provide greater service to the hotel. So I don’t think that it will in any way minimize the amount of jobs that we have but more enhance the productivity of the staff so that they could use to their potential.”

 

Larrieu says participants of today’s workshop were given toolkits to help guide them on how to better use AI to help them. Marion Ali for News Five.