As someone who grew up down the road from Barnsley, I often semi-affectionately describe it as a bit of a shithole. The poor socioeconomic conditions mean that growing up there makes you feel hopeless about your future. You internalise the idea that you either have to escape to somewhere with better prospects, or resign yourself to being left behind, like you’re the unpleasant gritty bits at the bottom of a drink.

I’d wager that this is why they’ve chosen Barnsley for this. It’s like the metropolitan equivalent of a wealthy bastard predating upon a desperate woman who can’t afford her bills. I’d wager that some of the local officials involved in this decision believe that AI is bad, but that some investment in the area is better than nothing. Unfortunately, I’m fairly sure that’s wrong. Rolling out AI into the areas they’re planning to will just increase workload for the already overstressed humans in those fields, which may be worsened if some of those lose their jobs due to the overpromised savings from the AI.