What you will learn
- What has been reported about AI in Guyana's health system
- How automation is used in offshore drilling
- Where AI may meet digital payments and banking
- The questions every citizen can ask about AI systems
Health: AI helping read X-rays
In May 2026, Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony described how AI software was being used in the public health system (DPI, 12 May 2026):
- AI systems were being used at five hospitals to interpret X-rays.
- After a digital X-ray, the system takes about 20 seconds to say whether the image looks normal or abnormal, and if abnormal, gives a tentative diagnosis after about another minute.
- The Minister said the system can also read CT scans and MRIs, and he described it as about 99 per cent accurate. (This is the Minister's statement. We have not seen an independent published study for Guyana.)
- He said radiologists will continue reviewing the scans.
- He announced plans to expand it to all public health facilities with digital X-ray machines.
Learning about AI responsibly in health
In April 2026, Mount Sinai Health System and the Ministry of Health held a seminar in Georgetown on integrating AI into health care, covering AI basics for clinicians, ethics and regulation, including Guyana's Data Protection Act, and how leaders should evaluate new tools (Mount Sinai, 24 Apr 2026). The release says this is part of a wider national healthcare initiative involving the Government of Guyana, Mount Sinai and Hess Corporation.
What this means for patients
- AI in hospitals is a tool for trained health workers, not a replacement for them.
- Do not use a chatbot to diagnose yourself or decide on medicine. If you are unwell, see a doctor or go to your nearest health centre. In an emergency, go to the hospital.
- You can always ask your health worker: "Was a computer system used to help read my results? Did a doctor check it?"
Oil and gas: automation offshore
Guyana's offshore oil industry uses some of the most advanced drilling technology in the world. In March 2026, Halliburton announced that it, with ExxonMobil and other partners in the Wells Alliance Guyana team, had completed what it called the industry's first fully automated geological well placement with complete rig automation, offshore Guyana (Halliburton press release, 16 Mar 2026).
In simple terms:
- Sensors deep in the well send data back in real time about the rock around the drill.
- Software uses that data to decide how to steer the drill so it stays inside the oil-bearing layer.
- The rig equipment follows those decisions automatically, with people supervising.
The company reported that the reservoir section was finished about 15 per cent ahead of plan and tripping time (pulling pipe in and out of the well) fell by about 33 per cent. These are the company's own figures from a press release.
Why it matters to Guyanese
- The industry needs people who understand data, automation, control systems and safety, not only manual skills.
- Data analysis and automation skills learned in oil and gas transfer to other sectors, like power, water, manufacturing and agriculture.
- The Prime Minister has said skills in information technology, robotics, digital finance, logistics and systems management are increasingly essential (DPI, 29 Jan 2026).
Money: digital payments and where AI comes in
In March 2026 the President said Guyana should have a national payment platform fully operational, with access to digital wallets at national scale, within six months (DPI, 23 Mar 2026). At the same event, he said Demerara Bank had processed 450,000 new accounts electronically over nine months.
How does AI connect to this? Around the world, banks and payment companies commonly use AI to:
- Spot fraud by flagging unusual transactions.
- Answer customer questions through chatbots.
- Help assess credit, which needs careful checks for fairness.
We have not found public details of specific AI systems used by Guyanese banks, so we do not make claims about them. What you can do:
- Turn on transaction alerts so you see every payment.
- If a payment is blocked or flagged, call your bank on its official number.
- If a loan is refused, you can ask the lender for the reasons.
The questions every citizen can ask
Whenever you hear about a new AI system, in a hospital, a bank, a school or a government office, ask:
- What does it do, exactly? Help a person decide, or decide on its own?
- Who checks it? Is a trained person reviewing its output?
- What data does it use? Mine? Where is it stored?
- What if it is wrong? Who do I complain to, and who fixes it?
- Is it fair? Was it tested on people like us, in Guyana?
Good systems have good answers to these questions.
Key words
- Radiologist: a doctor who specialises in reading medical images.
- Real-time data: information that arrives as things happen.
- Rig automation: machines on a drilling rig controlled by software.
- Fraud detection: systems that look for suspicious transactions.