by Cdr. Bud Slabbaert
The synthesizer turned a single musician into an orchestra. AI turns a single thinker into a team. The synthesizer did not replace the orchestra. It gave a single musician the power of many by using the synthesizer. Now the workplace has AI. AI does the same for work: it puts the capability of a full team into the hands of one decisive mind. AI can collapse an entire team into the mind of one strategist.
A synthesizer doesn’t replace the artistry of an orchestra. It compresses the capabilities of dozens of instrumentalists into a single interface. One person can trigger strings, brass, percussion, and textures that normally require 60–100 musicians. The musician becomes a conductor, performer, and arranger at once. The synthesizer is a force multiplier: it gives a single creator access to a full sonic palette. This is a shift from labor‑intensive to leverage‑intensive creativity.
AI does something structurally similar, but in the domain of knowledge work. One person can now perform tasks that previously required a team: research, drafting, analysis, design, QA, scheduling, and more. The individual becomes a creative director, orchestrating multiple AI “instruments” rather than doing every task manually. AI transforms work from task execution to task direction. It is compression and amplification.
AI will not cause changes on its own; humans using AI will. However, AI will enable fewer people to make decisions and changes, leaving others on the sidelines.
Institutions should invest in AI literacy for staff and develop internal hybrid talent. Reskill, don’t replace. AI is a threat to outdated structures. Institutions that prepare now will gain efficiency, productivity and competitiveness. Those that delay will face widening skills gaps, rising costs, and vulnerability.
Work models will change. It compresses the labor, expands the leverage, and reshapes the hierarchy. AI can do in 6 minutes what used to take 6 hours. AI gives two people the firepower of a 20-people-team. In‑house teams grow stronger when AI-augmented capability is internalized. AI will automate the paperwork backbone of an institution.
AI is not the future of technology. It is the future of human potential. AI doesn’t replace talent; it empowers it. It does not erase a team. It elevates the individual to operate at team‑scale. The age of human limitation is ending. An era of human leverage has begun.
GoGo Plastics Foundation, based in the Netherlands, is a professional recycled plastic sheet producer that processes 20.000 kilos of waste plastic into sheets (or panels) annually. They have global experience working in India and the Philippines, including in remote locations with unreliable electricity and no adequate recycling infrastructure. Their concept is based on an open-source global network of plastic recyclers called Precious Plastic. The same basis of Perpetual Plastics (PP) under the local EPIC Foundation, which launched in mid-2024. PP, with great thanks to Stichting DOEN, recently acquired and received a sheetpress that can process large amounts of waste plastic into plastic sheets (panels), which in turn can be manufactured into many various items, such as you would with a 1x1m sheet of plywood, with this version being more durable and sustainable, needing little to no maintenance. To ensure efficiency and professionalize local production, PP invited GoGo Plastics for on-site hands-on training and has completed 2 weeks of intensive guidance. Not only with the production but also with maintenance, marketing, design, as well as the educational component that comes along with the community involvement and engagement. Education and awareness are a very large part of all EPIC programs and projects. During GoGo’s visit, a stakeholder session was hosted, appropriately named ‘Let’s Talk Trash’, persons within Government, education, the social sector, the waste/recycling sector, and those in nature and environmental conservation and protection came together to learn more about PP’s new plastic sheet endeavour and how we can all collectively make a positive impact with our local plastic waste problem. In closing, everyone joined to create a piece of art that reflects our collective effort to make a greener, cleaner Sint Maarten. The Perpetual Plastics team would like to thank all those who joined their ‘Trash Talk’, but also those who made the GoGo visit and recycled plastic sheet making possible, from various private donors, to Seaview Beach Hotel, and Stichting DOEN.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment, and Infrastructure (VROMI), Mr. Patrice Gumbs, convened a special meeting of his Cabinet and the Secretary General with the Sint Maarten Housing Foundation to discuss the organization's strategic direction and to bid farewell to Ms. Kimberly Meyers. The mandate of Ms. Meyers, who had taken on the role of Chair of the Supervisory Board just over a year ago, came to an end today, February 4th. The meeting marked the finalization of a strategic agenda, centered on strengthening collaboration between the government and the Foundation to better address the housing and social development needs of Sint Maarten's residents.
PHILIPSBURG:--- A holistic, wraparound program supporting youth and families through education, mentorship, life skills, and community engagement
