- ‘It’s the new economy, stupid…’ - 27th February 2026
- Eyes right… - 26th February 2026
- Opposites attract - 26th February 2026
During 23 years with the BBC, and a 42 year journalistic career (when he was trained to use clear and simple language, avoiding jargon), our Editor, Welshman Phil Parry, has always known that economic factors are central, and new evidence today of an incredible upsurge in Artificial Intelligence (AI) has underlined this.
Could new technology particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI) be a saviour for Wales?
I am talking here about the economy, not other worrying issues in relation to AI (there is a medical condition now called ‘AI psychosis’!).
It has, unfortunately, long been the case that Wales has lagged behind the rest of the UK, particularly its largest neighbour England economically.
My career has been a story of charting the decline of manufacturing (or ‘extractive’) industries, and the hesitant rise of the service industry, with all the attendant traumas for families that this has entailed.
But the embrace of the service industry, even now, has not been as strong as in other parts of the UK, so perhaps policy-makers should look to technology for a solution.
They must surely realise that the Welsh economy is still essentially a post-industrial one that faces enormous challenges over lower productivity, and possessing a Gross Value Added figure (GVA – a measure of output and wealth, as opposed to Gross Domestic Product [GDP]) per head which was roughly 74 per cent of the UK average in 2021.
Politicians can spin figures all they like about how it has increased recently vis à vis the rest of the UK, but the plain fact is that Wales still comes at or near the bottom of almost every single table of economic measurement.
Here’s an example of what we are told: “Of the four countries in the UK, Wales saw the largest increase in real GDP of 9.1% between 2020 and 2021. Scotland showed the largest decrease in real GDP in 2020 (a decrease of 11.8%) followed by the smallest increase in 2021 at 7.5%”.
We seem to hear warm words all the time on the importance of AI in helping to address things, but little, apparently, is being done.
In the forward to the Welsh Government’s (WG’s) ‘plan’ for AI, the economy minister Rebecca Evans wrote: “We live in a time of rapid technological change. AI is no longer a distant concept. It is already reshaping our world – how we live, work, and learn – and its influence will only grow. This presents us with extraordinary opportunities – but also challenges we must navigate with care.
“The AI Plan for Wales is our roadmap to doing just that here in Wales. It sets out how we will reimagine how we work, how we serve our communities, and how we grow our economy. It provides the framework for how we will work together across Wales to develop our capability and coordinate our activities and investments to collectively achieve our vision.
“By embracing AI, we can transform public services, support our private sectors to adapt and thrive, boost productivity, and create high-quality jobs that will stand the test of time – responsibly, ethically, and ambitiously.”
These are fine words, but the reality is that actually creating those ‘high-quality jobs’ may require money.
Could AI come to the rescue of politicians, though (and us), if it is properly funded?
A few days ago I looked on amazed as a work colleague of mine in Cardiff created a reply letter purely using AI.
He took a photograph of the original communication, sent it to Chat GPT, and said into his phone: “Compose a reply”.
Another instance is of how AI tools like this might be used in legal work.
For junior lawyers a great deal of their time is spent on boringly composing reply letters, but if new technology can do that, they would then be freed up to do far more interesting jobs, like talking to clients and generating work.
In both these cases we can only guess at how much time is, and will be, saved as well as the number of new jobs that might be created.
So instead of grandiloquent words about an “…AI Plan for Wales…” lets see some real action to help fill the gap of jobs that have been lost.
Wales might not always be at the bottom of the league table then..!
The memories of Phil’s decades-long award-winning career in journalism (with technology changing the landscape totally) as he was gripped by the rare disabling condition Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP), have been released in a major book ‘A GOOD STORY’. Order it now!
Next week – how a complaint received by the outgoing head of the BBC Tim Davie about the standard of its drama output, once again highlights the BBC’s REFUSAL to answer The Eye’s questions concerning the string of scandals which have engulfed the giant corporation.
