- Information overload part one - 15th August 2025
- Blade to the heart - 14th August 2025
- The permissive society - 14th August 2025
During 23 years with the BBC, and in a 42 year journalistic career (when he was trained to use clear and simple language, avoiding jargon), for our Editor, Welshman Phil Parry, seeking accurate information has always been paramount, but today comes a radically new way of doing it – through Artificial Intelligence (AI).
I like to think I can adapt to change – but what is happening now has upended the whole way I work, and has left even me reeling.
Over many years in journalism, you gain an almost sixth sense about which sources can be trusted (as well as those that CANNOT!), and while everything is checked, the information which must be compared with other websites or outlets.
To do the latter I invariably use Google, which then guides me to other links where I can look at the details that are provided there.
Now however this can be done by voice recognition using Artificial Intelligence (AI).
This means that instead of physically typing your query into the search engine, to be linked to the relevant website, as of the end of last month you have been able to SPEAK into your phone to get you there.
Soon you will have a number of different sources giving you information, and you will know the facts are accurate.
This may sound insignificant, but for a journalist like me this is mind-blowing, and the authorities are alive to how things have altered, and could be about to change further in future, with those in Wales leading the pack.
For example the Welsh Government (WG) declares on its website: “AI is changing the way we live, work, and learn. The Welsh Government is exploring how AI could be used across government and the public sector in Wales.
“Aims and principles
“AI could create significant benefits for our economy, public services, and ultimately wider society here in Wales. We’ve created the following principles to help guide the responsible use of AI so that it is:
- ethical, trustworthy, and aligned with the values and interests of the people of Wales
- inclusive, accessible, and beneficial for everyone, especially the most vulnerable and disadvantaged
- innovative, collaborative, and supportive of our Research and Development ecosystem
- transparent, accountable, and subject to the right governance and oversight”.
FinTechWales says ” It is our vision to make Wales THE place to start up, scale up and accelerate innovative FinTech businesses”
The body announced in January: “Artificial intelligence is set to transform the UK, with Wales playing a pivotal role in the government’s newly announced AI Opportunities Action Plan. One of Europe’s largest data centre campuses is planned for Wales, marking the nation as a leader in the AI-powered transformation of the economy”.
Adding that: “The £12 billion investment in Wales highlights the nation’s growing reputation as a leader in AI and data-driven technologies”.
This kind of investment may be just the start too (the two men who started Google are worth $144 and $138 BILLION!), so hang on to your hats!
I may have started on the South Wales Echo (SWE) in 1983 using a typewriter, but moving on to a computer could be a relatively small change compared with what may be about to happen.
i’ll probably always need to knock on doors though…
The memories of Phil’s extraordinary decades long award-winning career in journalism (which began when things were VERY different!), as he was gripped by the rare neurological disabling condition Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP), have been released in a major book ‘A Good Story’. Order it now.
‘Information overload part two’ comes soon, where The Eye show how a warning from the Deputy First Minister of Wales (DFMW) a controversial force will take action against law breakers, as well as a key revelation that the police solve hardly any crimes, highlights disturbing details exposed by The Eye about the biggest one in Wales.
