{"id":2833,"date":"2026-09-10T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wolmers.org\/trust\/uncategorized\/use-ai-dont-let-it-think-for-you\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T12:00:00","slug":"use-ai-dont-let-it-think-for-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wolmers.org\/trust\/trust-news\/use-ai-dont-let-it-think-for-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Use AI but don\u2019t let it think for you"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Jason Cross<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

September 10, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Chief
Chief Justice Bryan Sykes (left) with Colonel Rohan Robinson, president of the Wolmer\u2019s Old Boys\u2019 Association, at the WOBA 120th anniversary awards banquet. Photo: Naphtali Junior \/ Jamaica Observer, 10 September 2026.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Chief Justice Bryan Sykes has urged past and present students of Wolmer\u2019s Boys\u2019 School to harness artificial intelligence (AI) to broaden access to knowledge and boost efficiency, even while warning against allowing the technology to erode human judgement, conscience and accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStudents must be equipped to ask whether its use is truthful, fair, and humane. The task is not to choose between tradition and innovation, it is to make tradition the foundation of intelligent innovation,\u201d Sykes told the Wolmer\u2019s Old Boys\u2019 Association\u2019s (WOBA) 120th anniversary awards banquet at Jamaica Pegasus hotel in St Andrew last Saturday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJamaica needs young people who are technically capable but morally grounded, ambitious but not arrogant, confident in competition but generous in service,\u201d Sykes said, adding that the famous school\u2019s students need more than nostalgia, but additionally \u201cthey need the organised commitment of the Old Boys\u2019 Association\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arguing that the education students receive in this current AI revolution must remain anchored in discipline, intellectual honesty, courage, courtesy, resilience, and service, Sykes said: \u201cIt must also provide digital fluency, creativity, global awareness, and confidence to solve problems that earlier generations did not face\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chief justice stated that the judiciary, similar to Wolmer\u2019s, is an institution whose authority must outlast the personalities who serve within it, alluding to the fact that the school was founded in 1729 and that while many principals and administrators have come and gone, the school as an institution nevertheless stands firm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe judiciary is a constitutional safeguard, an independent forum in which the citizen may have rights determined. When we speak of judicial independence it is not a privilege for judges, it is a protection for the citizen. It means that the person who enters a court \u2014 whether powerful or powerless \u2014 should be heard by a tribunal guided by the law and the evidence, not by fear, favour, political direction, private influence, malice or ill will. That independence must be joined with public confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cConfidence is earned by fairness, courtesy, reasoned decisions, integrity, efficiency, and accountability. It is sustained when the public can see that cases are administered seriously and every person is treated with dignity. The judiciary must therefore preserve principle while modernising its administration,\u201d the chief justice pointed out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Four
Four of six gold awardees at the WOBA 120th anniversary banquet. From left: Professor Evan Dale Abel, Bruce James, KD Knight and Dr John Royes. Photo: Naphtali Junior \/ Jamaica Observer, 10 September 2026.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Jamaica Justice System Reform Task Force, chaired by the late Professor Barrington Chevannes, stated in 2007 that judicial independence must have pride of place in reform while calling for a system that is efficient, accessible, accountable, and timely,\u201d Sykes said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese aims are complementary, not contradictory. That is why the judiciary must use technology intelligently, reduce avoidable delays, improve access, manage resources responsibly, and remain accountable for its service. The same is true of schools and alumni bodies. Strong institutions are not those that resist every change, they are those that can change without abandoning their purpose. They retain standards while becoming more open, efficient, and responsive. They understand that tradition is not an excuse for complacency, it is a foundation for responsible renewal,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Highlighting the importance of alumni associations, Sykes said they form part of Jamaica\u2019s civic architecture because the State cannot do everything by itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStrong societies depend upon citizens who organise voluntarily around duty, service and the common good. An alumni association is not simply a social club, it is a civil society at work, a living link among generations and a partner in national development. Goodwill must become scholarships, professional success must become mentorship, networks must become opportunities, and nostalgia must become service,\u201d Sykes urged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy the beginning of the 20th century, generations of boys had passed through Wolmer\u2019s, taking with them memories, friendships, discipline, and loyalty to the school that formed them,\u201d the chief justice said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He stated that on May 4, 1905, that loyalty took organised form in the establishment of the WOBA which essentially \u201cexpressed an important idea\u201d as graduation does not end a student\u2019s relationship with his school; it changes it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Chief
Chief Justice Bryan Sykes with three Wolmer\u2019s Boys\u2019 School sixth-form students at the WOBA 120th anniversary banquet, Jamaica Pegasus. Photo: Naphtali Junior \/ Jamaica Observer, 10 September 2026.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe boy who becomes a man becomes the alumnus who can mentor. The young man whose name appeared on a class list joins a brotherhood whose duty extends beyond a single cohort. WOBA exists for fellowship certainly, but never for fellowship alone. Its deeper purpose is to turn affection into action. The true measure of an alumni association is not how warmly its members remember the school, it is how faithfully they serve,\u201d Sykes argued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The awards on Saturday were split into two categories: Maroon and Gold, the official colours of the school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maroon Awards went to Kurt Boothe, Andre Grey, Trevor Johnson, Lissant Mitchell, Michael Robinson, and Walter Rodney, while recipients of the Gold Award were Professor Evan Dale Abel, Ricardo \u201cBibi\u201d Gardner, Bruce James, KD Knight, Wayne \u201cMarshal\u201d Mitchell, and Dr John Royes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor Abel, an endocrinologist, expressed gratitude for the recognition and praised Wolmer\u2019s for shaping him and many others into leading successful lives and careers. He used his message to emphasise the importance of giving back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe years we spent at Wolmer\u2019s not only formed us but shaped who we are today. It is very nice to get this award. I have received many awards in my life but one thing I want to say is that none of us did this alone. Everything we have achieved individually or collectively we did it because there were many who lifted us up and held us high,\u201d Abel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe heard the chief justice say very eloquently that Wolmer\u2019s was started as a free school, the point of that being that anyone \u2014 irrespective of circumstances, background, class, colour \u2014 could come to Wolmer\u2019s and be shaped into an individual who will become a change-maker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI remember very well going to Wolmer\u2019s half-a-century ago. One thing I always say is that whatever you achieve, it is really absolutely critical to pay it forward. It is never always about us but perhaps more importantly those who are coming behind us who, in fact I believe very strongly, are going to do better than us. I look across this room and I see the young men in their blazers about to take that step from high school. It is very tough out there and sometimes very scary in terms of what is happening out there in the world, and things that are happening that oftentimes we feel we can\u2019t control, but I do believe very strongly that your time at Wolmer\u2019s has given you the integrity, knowledge, decency and resilience to be change-makers,\u201d Abel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source: Jamaica Observer<\/a>, 10 September 2026. Republished for the Wolmer\u2019s Trust community with attribution.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Jason Cross September 10, 2026 Chief Justice Bryan Sykes has urged past and present students of Wolmer\u2019s Boys\u2019 School […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2830,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[112],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trust-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wolmers.org\/trust\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wolmers.org\/trust\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wolmers.org\/trust\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wolmers.org\/trust\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wolmers.org\/trust\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wolmers.org\/trust\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wolmers.org\/trust\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wolmers.org\/trust\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wolmers.org\/trust\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wolmers.org\/trust\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}