Around 50 scholarships will be offered annually to the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda for its members to earn Bachelor of Science Degrees in the application of Artificial Intelligence to Criminology.

The decision came from Cabinet as discussions were underway for the staging of the second annual AI conference with the Assistant Principal of the UWI Five Islands Campus Professor Curtis Charles.

Cabinet Spokesperson Lionel Hurst spoke highly of the new initiative.

“We will probably have the newest recruits very likely being among the first 50 to proceed to conclude their studies on AI. We intend of course, that every police officer no matter the rank, has the necessary tools in the kit to pursue crime fighting utilizing this particular tool.

“This is very useful and therefore, merely graduating 50 police officers with a Bachelors of Science degree each year or certainly the first within the next three or four years would be quite an achievement for the Royal Police force of Antigua and Barbuda and for the people of Antigua and Barbuda also,” Hurst said.

AI has been taking over the globe, enhancing everyday life in many avenues. The debate continues the limits to which it is used but for now, Cabinet is keen on implementing it in every way it can to positively impact and develop the nation.