Peter Brimble, Hilman Palaon and Simran Singh
Despite the technology’s rapidly growing global uptake, the Pacific islands lack a clear regional strategy to ensure that artificial intelligence (AI) can fulfil its potential for strengthening disaster resilience, diversifying economies and preserving cultural heritage. As the region upgrades its digital infrastructure, the key issues are how AI impacts the Pacific and who shapes that influence.
The Pacific islands risk becoming passive consumers of external AI solutions that may not meet their unique needs.
The AI Asia Pacific Institute’s 2024 regional stocktake report stresses that AI adoption in the Pacific faces several significant hurdles. The underdevelopment of digital infrastructure remains an issue in most Pacific nations. Many lack comprehensive AI strategies and regulatory frameworks. Consistent governance structures are critical to ensure seamless AI adoption. As ASEAN has shown, aligning with common standards will mean Pacific nations can reduce barriers to AI implementation while maintaining the flexibility to adapt solutions to local contexts.
Public awareness of the potential and risks of AI remains limited. Many AI initiatives are overshadowed by broader projects aimed at improving digital infrastructure and capacity. Fully leveraging AI will ensure that local populations are not left behind by rapid technological advances and subsequently disenfranchised. Pacific island nations must invest in widespread digital literacy and awareness initiatives to build technical skills and an understanding of AI’s societal impacts.
Empowering individuals with AI knowledge will allow them to shape the region’s technological future rather than passively adapting to external innovations. AI tools can also help strengthen research on the Pacific islands region by enabling more efficient data collection, analysis and knowledge discovery across diverse fields such as climate science, linguistics, public health and cultural studies.
Regional coordination is another challenge. Each Pacific island state’s geographic dispersion and unique characteristics make a one-size-fits-all approach to AI difficult. Regional activities are often ad hoc and lack coordination. Stronger regional bodies focused on emerging digital technologies are needed to help the Pacific islands develop tailored national AI frameworks to address national AI challenges and promote inclusive, effective development across the region.
A technical assistance facility in the Pacific focused on AI development in the island nations could provide the expertise and strengthen the international and regional partnerships necessary to create and implement AI strategies that meet local needs.
To ensure AI’s benefits are inclusive, national and regional AI strategies must engage local communities, ensuring that AI solutions are culturally relevant and empower the people to influence their digital futures. AI can support the preservation of cultural heritage in the Pacific islands by facilitating the documentation, revitalisation and dissemination of indigenous languages and traditions. Tools like speech recognition, machine translation and language learning applications mean that AI can preserve and teach endangered languages and support the digitisation and restoration of artifacts, oral histories and traditional stories.
Recognising AI’s transformative potential, it is important to note that Fiji is emerging as a regional leader in the AI space. Suva made AI a pillar of its National Development Plan 2024-2029. The government is aiming to drive innovation, research and competitiveness across both the public and private sectors. Fiji has launched a national AI Hub to accelerate digital transformation and is forging partnerships with global tech firms.
Foreign support for Fiji’s AI ambitions is growing. KPMG’s AI Build Hub in Suva trains local professionals and enhances the delivery of services. The hub will play an important role in developing AI tools for critical sectors such as health and finance. It creates employment opportunities, with the hub promising 40 new jobs and aligning with the government’s development vision.
China has also strengthened its presence, with Guangzhou donating an AI lab to Yat Sen Secondary School. This facility provides students with hands-on experience in machine learning, robotics and AI-driven technologies, preparing them for future careers in a technology-driven world. Fiji has partnered with the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the UK-based AI development company Tractable to introduce an AI-powered app enabling residents to better respond to natural disasters. This application accelerates disaster recovery by allowing quicker verification of insurance claims, ensuring that those worst impacted by extreme weather can restore their livelihoods as soon as possible.
While these international partnerships are vital, Fiji requires stronger local expertise and infrastructure to ensure long-term control, sustainability and alignment of AI solutions with local needs.
AI is already taking root in the Pacific, but the region must take charge of its digital future. While Fiji has made commendable progress, significant challenges remain in developing a comprehensive and region-wide AI ecosystem. The Pacific islands must invest in infrastructure, regulation, education and regional cooperation to build local expertise and avoid dependency on foreign systems. By balancing global partnerships with regional leadership, the people of the Pacific islands can ensure AI meets their unique needs on their terms.
Dr Peter Brimble is Board Chair and Vice President of the AI Asia Pacific Institute, Dr Hilman Palaon is Research Fellow in the Indo-Pacific Development Centre at the Lowy Institute and Simran Singh is Research Associate at the AI Asia Pacific Institute.
Source: East Asia Forum
