Region must grasp AI or get 'smashed'

A NORTHUMBERLAND MP has warned the region must grasp opportunities presented by artificial technology or risk being "smashed" by the speed of change.

- By JAMES ROBINSON

Brian Herlihy, chief energy strategy officer at QTS, Alice Delahunty of National Grid, Ian Lavery MP, Northumberland County Council leader Glen Sanderson and SPARK Robotics CEO Eric Guo at the event in Blyth

Blyth and Ashington MP Ian Lavery admitted he was "frightened" by some aspects of AI, but insisted the benefits must be "grasped" in the best interests of working people.

Mr Lavery was speaking at a major conference at the Energy Central Learning Hub in Blyth, organised by the MP and sponsored by QTS, the company behind the ongoing construction of a datacentre campus at Cambois that will provide the computing power for new Al technology.

Entitled 'The Past We Inherit, The Future We Build - AI and the North East' - named for an old trade union slogan - the conference featured keynote speeches and panel discussions on Al's impact on employment, public services, infrastructure, energy and everyday life.

Other speakers included Brian Herlihy, chief energy strategy officer at QTS, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Liz Kendall and general secretary of the TUC Paul Nowak.

Introducing the event, Mr Lavery said: "I hope with the discussions we have got with experts, by the end of the day we will have a better idea of what AI is.

"I read a lot in the press, I've heard about it on the TV and the radio and I'm still none the wiser, but AI - whether we like it or not - is coming down the track at a rate of knots.

"We either embrace it, or get smashed to smithereens. We have got to have a clear understanding of what AI actually means, what it will mean for communities like Blyth and Ashington, for the North East, the UK and globally.