LLANELLI’S AM Lee Waters has issued a wake up call for Wales in the wake of the onslaught of automation and artificial intelligence (AI). While some believe that AI has many benefits there are as Mr Waters points out some downsides including job losses and there is a need he says for a seed change in attitudes and a need for a plan for the future growth in AI for retraining the Welsh workforce and those in education. Airing his concerns today, Friday, (Feb 2) Lee Waters said: “I am Hugely worried about this. The Chief Inspector of Estyn’s Annual Report highlighted that two thirds of primary schools are not teaching IT properly.”
The think tank ‘The Centre for Cities’ has warned that almost one in four jobs in Welsh cities could be lost to robots by 2030 unless skills change.
They claim that 112,000 workers could be at risk in Cardiff, Swansea and Newport.
Lee Waters AM says that unless the Welsh Assembly tackles the issue of AI and the impact on Welsh industry we could lose out in many ways. Mr Waters is calling for a debate on how Wales addresses some of the issues including retraining workers and establishing new businesses around the AI industry. Mr Waters is concerned that young people in particular could miss out on jobs from emerging industries, unless changes are made to education to give young people the right skills.
Those jobs at the highest risk of being lost to AI are retail, customer service and warehouse jobs.
In a recent debate held in the Senedd on 17/01/2018 Lee Waters said: “The rise in robotics is extraordinary and also frightening. A disproportionate number of Welsh jobs are vulnerable to automation.” Watch the debate here: ©Senedd.TV,2018
Lee Waters is calling on the Welsh Government to look at ways of welcoming and harnessing AI rather than opposing it.
You can watch our full interview with Lee Waters AM here:
Llanelli AM calls for harnessing of artificial intelligence from Llanelli Online on Vimeo. ©Llanelli Online, 2018
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