As a cultural powerhouse, the Caribbean region has the potential to become a digital leader in leveraging AI and VR technologies to preserve the region’s unique identity, modernise its education systems, and ensure that digital inclusion reaches every citizen. Amanda Zilla, the Principal Investigator of the dream LAB, within the Artificial Intelligence Innovation Centre (AIIC), joins us to discuss, among other things, the ways in which AI and VR can be leveraged in areas such as the arts, culture, and education; how VR and AI can help Caribbean people to better engage with their own history; how the dream LAB is navigating thorny issues such as copyright and cultural appropriation; and how AI-enhanced VR experiences help countries further develop their tourism product beyond sea and sand.

 

This episode is also available on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music.

In 2026, the boundaries between the physical and digital worlds have blurred, giving rise to a “digital renaissance.” The convergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Virtual Reality (VR) is no longer just a futuristic concept; it is a fundamental toolkit for preserving our past, enriching our present culture, and revolutionising how we learn.

In the art world, for example, there has been a shift from viewing AI as a competitor to embracing it as a sophisticated collaborator. Increasingly, artists are using AI to generate complex, reactive VR landscapes that respond to a viewer’s emotions or movements in real-time, and using tools that allow creators to move beyond 2D screens to sculpt and design in 3D space.

AI and VR are also being used for heritage preservation. In locations where heritage sites are especially fragile, AI and VR are working together to create a digital twin of a site, thus ensuring that even if a physical monument is lost, its history remains accessible.

This digital renaissance, which leverages both AI and VR, is also emerging in the Caribbean region, and is the focus of one of the clusters of the recently established Artificial Intelligence Innovation Centre at The University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus, in Trinidad and Tobago. In this podcast episode, we chat with the head of the dream LAB cluster about the work being done to develop AI and VR applications geared towards the arts, culture and heritage preservation, and education industries.

 

Introducing our guest

Amanda Zilla

Amanda Zilla is the Principal Investigator of the dream LAB, within the Artificial Intelligence Innovation Centre (AIIC) and an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Literary, Cultural and Communication Studies. Her dream LAB cluster within the AIIC engages in STREAM research focused on the relationship between the arts, culture, and education, and AI and VR technologies, reflecting her personal research interests.

Since 2021, Amanda has delivered workshops and conducted AI literacy outreach initiatives for persons within the education, business and financial industries. Within the Faculty of Humanities and Education, Amanda has also contributed to the curriculum by creating an undergraduate course, “Storytelling in Media”, which is focused on the synergetic relationship between narrative and emerging technologies and which incorporates the exploration of AI ethics into its learning objectives.

Over the past year, Amanda has given invited talks on the impact of AI on women’s lives and livelihoods in the region, conducted capacity-building workshops across multiple sectors, and been engaged in developing cultural and educational AI projects through dream LAB.

 

Insights into our conversation

This conversation with Amanda raised more questions than it answered. Although AI and VR technologies can be used to support the arts and culture, she highlighted some innovative work that is being conducted through dream LAB. However, an ongoing challenge appears to be the absence of appropriate and comprehensively agreed legal and ethics-related policies to guide this fast-evolving space.  

It is also going to be critical to consider and determine the balance that ought to be established between digital experiences and in-person experiences, particularly regarding the region’s tourism product. Many of our physical attractions are in dire need of preservation, which would mean restricting access to them, but at the same time, they generate revenue for the country and income for citizens. If access to such attractions is primarily as a digital experience, what are the implications? Further, what would be the implications if cultural attractions and experiences could be accessed digitally and thus remotely? These were among the issues discussed in our conversation with Amanda.

  1. Please share with us some of your background and your journey to becoming part of the AIIC.
  2. What is the dream LAB?
  3. In what ways can AI and VR be leveraged in areas such as the arts, culture, and education? What are some of the projects that dream LAB is engaged in?
  4. Historically, Caribbean archives have been housed in Europe or North America. How can VR and AI help ‘repatriate’ these artefacts digitally, allowing Caribbean people to engage with their own history on their own soil?
  5. With generative AI now capable of creating 3D assets for VR environments, how is the dream LAB navigating the thorny issues of copyright, cultural appropriation and the definition of ‘the artist’?
  6. VR is often marketed for ‘escapism.’ How are you flipping that script to use VR as a tool for ‘grounding’—helping Caribbean youth engage with their specific local histories and landscapes?
  7. The Caribbean economy is heavily tied to tourism. How can AI-enhanced VR experiences offer tourists a deeper, more intellectual engagement with our culture that goes beyond the ‘beach and resort’ narrative?
  8. Carnival is the ultimate immersive experience. Is the cluster exploring how AI and VR can capture the ‘spirit’ of Mas—perhaps allowing the global diaspora to participate in a virtual road march that feels authentic?
  9. What is the biggest misconception individuals or institutions tend to have when a proposal has been made to integrate AI into the arts or education?

 

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Also, if you or a member of your network is interested in joining us for an episode, do get in touch.

Let’s make it happen!

 

Select links

Below are links to some of the organisations and resources that were mentioned during the episode, or might otherwise be useful:

 

 

Images credit:  AIIC;  Eduardo Skinner (flickr); Walkerssk (Pixabay); Freepik

Music credit: The Last Word (Oui Ma Chérie), by Andy Narrell

Podcast editing support: Mayra Bonilla Lopez