This study examined residents’ perceptions of the prospective contribution of artificial intelligence (AI) to sustainable island living in Marinduque, Philippines, and tested associations between demographic factors and five sustainability dimensions.
A cross-sectional descriptive-correlational survey was completed by 365 respondents drawn from the province’s six municipalities through a combination of purposive, stratified, and snowball procedures. The researcher-developed questionnaire measured perceived environmental, socio-economic, technological-infrastructure, institutional-policy, and community-participation impacts.
Respondents rated all five dimensions as large, with overall means ranging from 3.58 to 3.72 on a five-point scale. Five multiple regression models were statistically significant, but their explanatory power was modest (R² = .066–.178). Age had negative coefficients in four models, while education, income, technology access, occupation, sex, and community role showed outcome-specific associations.
Because several categorical predictors were represented by single numerical codes in the available output, their coefficients were treated as coding-dependent rather than causal effects.
The findings indicate broad public receptiveness to AI-enabled sustainability applications, especially early warning, sustainable tourism, institutional collaboration, infrastructure investment, and community awareness. However, the limited variance explained by demographic characteristics underscores the importance of inclusive digital infrastructure, transparent local governance, community co-design, and rigorous evaluation before large-scale implementation.
Authors: Lenie Zulueta
