After a lifetime in communications, from broadcast to police and the Bermuda College, Evelyn Barnett has taken early retirement as an opportunity to explore the future.

The former voice of the news on Bermuda Broadcasting Company radio stations, Mrs Barnett closed out 23 years as the college’s director of communications with a round of studies on the next big game-changer — artificial intelligence.

“It is phenomenal,” Mrs Barnett said of the Bermuda College’s foundation in generative AI course offered through its partnership with the Clarity Institute leadership coaching firm.

Even as she discussed retirement last year with her family, Mrs Barnett was keen to join the first cohort of AI students studying the technological toolkit rewriting an array of industries.

She told The Royal Gazette: “People talk about the dark side of AI, and there is one, but it’s a way to make things more efficient — people worry it’s going to take their jobs, but it will enhance your jobs.

“It’s evolving so rapidly, there really hasn’t been an opportunity to grab it by the tail and hold on to it. It’s just running, pummelling ahead.”

She added: “There is an argument to just let it run its course and then regulate it. There’s another school of thought that we should regulate it now.”

Mrs Barnett placed herself in the latter category.

“There’s still no law book, no constitution for AI,” she said. “I definitely think there should be rules and regulations. It’s a train that’s left the station. Let’s find out how the brakes work.“

Mrs Barnett went from radio DJ to newscaster for Bermuda Broadcasting, which included hosting the popular ZBM television programme News & Views in the 1990s.

She handled communications for Crime Stoppers Bermuda as well as the Agape House hospice at a time when the facility grappled with the stigma of HIV.

In 1996, Mrs Barnett went over to the police service as their first civilian public and media relations manager, before moving on to the Bermuda College in 2001.

She watched media and communications change rapidly under the emerging influence of the internet.

Mrs Barnett said she sees AI as just “another platform that we can use”, but with profound consequences.

She added: “I wanted to get ahead of the curve, to have a full understanding of it.

“At the moment, the majority of people are still looking at it askance, but I would say the benefits make it worth a second look.”

Mrs Barnett cited the example of AI tools spotting breast cancer years in advance of conventional medicine.

She said: “That’s a whole new lease on life. If you could know about cancer five years before the current technology, that’s a huge plus, a huge benefit.”

Mrs Barnett described her early retirement as “a welcome break” but said she had plans in train.

“I haven’t solidified a specific course,” she said. “I’m exploring new options.”

After stepping down last month from the Bermuda College, Mrs Barnett said the pause had been “fantastic”.

“I almost feel guilty,” she said. “I’m getting used to the novelty.

“It’s been a lifetime of communications in its various forms. I started out in journalism. I got my degree in communications with a minor in journalism.

“I went to ZBM where I was hired as a radio DJ at ZBM1, back in the days of Shirley Dill and Mike Bishop.”

Mrs Barnett said she had “always wanted to be a journalist”, attracted by the variety it offered when careers day came around while she was a pupil at Warwick Academy.

She wanted to explore ZBM, and spent a day under the tutelage of broadcast icons Rick Richardson and Darlene Ming.

“Eventually I got a job there,” she said. “They were my mentors — they made it stick for me as a career choice.”

After a stint at the firm Advertising Associates, she joined Bermuda Broadcasting in 1988 and stayed there for the next eight years.

Her work included early-morning radio news as well as News & Views, and her roles included working as a programme manager.

Recently married and with young children, Mrs Barnett ultimately wanted to branch out, and went to work for the police, becoming the first civilian head of communications.

She recalled: “That was a time when they were civilianising certain posts.

“It was the days of police commissioner Colin Coxall. I was hired under his administration. Again, you never knew what was going to happen.

“That was when they were building a more positive image for the police, when it changed from the police force to the police service.”

The proximity of the police headquarters at Prospect in Devonshire to Bermuda Broadcasting headquarters also put the media within walking distance.

After years as the BPS spokeswoman, in 2001, Mrs Barnett made the transition over to the Bermuda College.

“I saw an ad in the paper. I was looking for a new type of challenge, and this was distinctly different,” she said.

“I was afraid it might be kind of mundane, coming over from the police service to becoming an advocate for the college. But it stuck with me.

“It’s been an interesting journey. When I joined the college, it was pre-social media.

“We were very reliant on traditional media. That job gave me an opportunity to see how the transition of media in Bermuda came about.”

Concurrent with the rise of online news was social media, enabling people and organisations to quickly generate their own news rather than waiting on traditional outlets.

“It meant the college had a new platform to stake its relevance to the community,” she said.

“It was a challenge — so much so that it became an entity unto itself. It helped us get our message out there much more quickly.”

Mrs Barnett’s tenure coincided with a proliferation of Bermuda College partnerships with overseas institutions, along with its switch to a community college model.

Aside from recommending its AI course, Mrs Barnett said the island could watch the Bermuda College continuing to evolve by “leaps and bounds”.

She added: “I’m thankful to the college. I’ve served since 2001 under so many presidents.

“One thing I can say is they were all visionaries who have kept the college moving along. It punches well above its weight.

“We’ve gone into dual enrolment. We’ve had students with a bachelor’s degree who have gone on to get their master’s by the time they’re 21, which is incredible.“

Her final year with the college came with the appointment of David Sam last August.

“With Dr Sam at the helm, I think the college as I leave is poised to go into a new metamorphosis,” she said. “That can only be good for it and for the community.”