By Tony Moretta
The threat is of AI is real, and we can’t avoid it. The opportunity, however, is only there if we seize it – and quickly
I remember the first time I mentioned AI in Jersey, and was told that acronym stood for “artificial insemination” here!
I was obviously talking about “artificial intelligence”, and it was good to hear the topic discussed at the IoD Debate (on “Jersey’s Economic Future”), even if understandably the panel were only able to scratch the surface of the likely implications for Jersey. They discussed the impact on jobs, the potential for forcing changes to our tax system, based primarily on personal taxation as it is, and the potential for improving productivity, but only at a high level.
Other topics were expertly covered such as Jersey’s place in an increasingly turbulent world, our high cost of living, property prices and even the horror of High Net Worths not being allowed to land helicopters in their gardens! Most of those issues – well perhaps not the helicopter one – are covered in these pages by writers more qualified than me to opine on them, but the topic of AI is seldom mentioned in any detail.
Go online and you will find numerous definitions of AI, but let’s go with the following:
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is technology that enables computers and machines to simulate human learning, comprehension, problem solving, decision making, creativity and autonomy.
Applications and devices equipped with AI can see and identify objects. They can understand and respond to human language. They can learn from new information and experience. They can make detailed recommendations to users and experts. They can act independently, replacing the need for human intelligence or intervention (a classic example being a self-driving car).
I could write extensively on how AI is being used around the world but I want to focus on the question of whether it is a threat or an opportunity for our island.
The threat of AI is normally portrayed either in the guise of giant killer robots or the loss of jobs. The opportunity as a great leap forward in productivity as mundane tasks are automated and improved.
Is AI a threat to Jersey – to our economy and our way of life? The answer, in my view, is most definitely yes and will have an impact more quickly than we think. If we leave it to the market AI will replace many of the well paid jobs (in financial services) and leave us with those which are harder to automate such as cleaners, carers and hospitality staff. The problem is, as the IoD panel stated, our public sector relies heavily on the taxes paid by the higher earning workers and losses will leave a hole in our spending power, just when we want to invest in new infrastructure and improved outcomes in areas like health and education.
If that all sounds like science fiction then I would point to job losses we have already seen in advisory roles in the big consultancy firms. After all, who wants to pay £100ks for a research paper when Chat GPT can do it for free? Are these redundancies the canary in the coalmine that raises the alarm for all of us?
Scary stuff then. However, the good news is that AI is also a huge opportunity for Jersey – if we seize it.
It can be the answer to how we achieve economic growth without growing the population. It can improve public outcomes without increasing costs. It can give us the smaller but more effective civil service everyone seems to be asking for. It can do something everyone has been talking about for years – improve our productivity. Just think what a business services powerhouse we could become if we were the best user of this technology among our competitors.
On the subject of productivity, I remember a leading economist presenting Jersey’s long declining rate as a simple descending line on a graph. When asked how we arrested this decline his answer was simple – invest in two things: technology and education, ie. the skills to use it.
We can definitely grasp this opportunity but only if we all act now – and by all I mean government, companies and workers. We all have to invest – time and money – in both technology and upskilling, or we will fail.
Jersey can do it. We really can. Even in the last few weeks I have seen some inspiring instances of our community rising to the challenge.
It can be the answer to how we achieve economic growth without growing the population. It can improve public outcomes without increasing costs… Just think what a business services powerhouse we could become if we were the best user of this technology amongst our competitors
Tony Moretta
At the first session of a new Let’s Build AI course at the Digital Jersey Academy, I saw two impressive tutors help 30 diverse attendees address the problems they were trying to solve for their businesses through AI.
The next day, I met with a young man working in finance who had used AI to collate and analyse his medical records to achieve an improved outcome for both himself and our local health system.
Digital transformation, based on AI and other technologies, can help us strengthen all aspects of our economy and our lives while retaining what we value. It can keep our fields green and productive without the need to import labour from around the world, it can allow our fantastic hospitality sector to prosper by focusing its staff on service not process, it can make our world-leading finance industry even more competitive and skilled and deliver the high-quality public services we demand at a cost we can afford.
This is why at Digital Jersey we focus not only on the digital sector of the economy, but also on helping all industries use technology and upskill, and we’re already working with others on a plan for harnessing AI.
Make no mistake, though. The threat is of AI is real, and we can’t avoid it. The opportunity, however, is only there if we seize it and quickly. I’m confident though that Jersey is at its best when facing a burning platform and we saw in Covid that we could use technology to manage a crisis and come out stronger. Let’s make sure we do it again!
- Tony Moretta is the chief executive of Digital Jersey. He has over 30 years of senior management experience across a wide range of digital industries, including mobile, online, broadcast, payments, advertising and data analytics, using the latest technological innovations to develop new revenue streams.
