Thanks PJIA but your attention to details around the A.I. honorees is lacking

At the risk of sounding like a complainer, I am going to complain a little about PJIA’s initiative to recognize legendary St. Maarteners.

First, let me say this clearly: thank you for recognizing our people. We need more of this. The idea is a good one and the intention deserves credit.

But when you are honoring people on this level, details matter. A lot.

My first question is about the location. Why are these portraits placed along the roadside where there is little to no foot traffic? People driving along that road cannot properly see the portraits, much less stop and read the information on them. And if schools, families or visitors want to go there and take a closer look, they would be standing alongside a busy road with traffic passing constantly.

Why could space not have been found inside the airport, at key locations where passengers, residents, students and visitors could actually stop, look at the portraits and read the stories behind them? Instead, they are on a wall heading in the direction of Maho.

Then there is the bigger issue: whose Coat of Arms is that in some of these portraits?

It is not the Coat of Arms of St. Maarten. Yet we have images of some of our most important people, including our first Prime Minister, standing in front of it.

The portraits are clearly AI-generated, and there is nothing automatically wrong with that. AI can save time and money and, when used properly, can produce excellent work. But AI is also notorious for getting details wrong, especially symbols, lettering, flags, logos and historical elements.

That is where the human part still matters.

If the person creating the images does not know the country well enough to recognize that the Coat of Arms is wrong, or if nobody carefully reviews the final artwork before it is printed and displayed, then we end up embarrassing what was otherwise a good initiative.

When you are honoring people who helped shape St. Maarten, those details cannot be treated as minor.

Hopefully, the mistakes can be corrected, the affected portraits reprinted, and the remaining images carefully reviewed before more are added. Check the Coat of Arms. Check the flags. Check the uniforms. Check the buildings. Check the names and titles. Check everything.

Other than that, big up yourselves, PJIA. Keep recognizing our people. Keep telling their stories.

Just give the details the same level of respect as the people you are honoring.

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