FOR Cardiff: AI and the future of the City

Carolyn Brownell – Executive Director, FOR Cardiff

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Artificial intelligence is no longer something happening somewhere else.

It is already shaping how organisations operate, how decisions are made and, increasingly, how cities are understood by the outside world.

For places like Cardiff, that presents both opportunity and risk. Much of the public conversation around AI focuses on productivity, automation and efficiency.

Those matter, but they only tell part of the story. Increasingly, AI tools are influencing perception.

They are answering questions about where to visit, where to invest and where to do business.

In many cases, they are doing so without people ever visiting an official website or reading a carefully crafted strategy document.

That shift is subtle, but significant. For the first time, places are being interpreted not primarily through their own voice, but through algorithms trained on everything that has ever been written about them.

Some of that content is accurate and positive. Some of it is outdated, partial or misleading.

The challenge for cities is not whether this is happening, but whether we choose to engage with it.

At FOR Cardiff, we have been exploring what this means in practice. Like many organisations, we are already using AI tools in small but meaningful ways.

They have helped us summarise large volumes of consultation responses quickly, freeing up staff time to focus on analysis and engagement.

In other areas, they have been far less reliable. Large language models are impressive at language, but poor at tasks requiring numerical precision.

Anyone who has seen them struggle with simple counting exercises will recognise that these tools are not a substitute for judgement or expertise.

That distinction matters. Innovation is not about replacing understanding.

It is about augmenting it. Used well, AI can support better decision making. Used carelessly, it can undermine confidence, accuracy and trust.

The governance questions are just as important. We have clear policies in place about what AI can and cannot be used for.

There are tasks where automation is helpful, and others where human oversight is essential, particularly where legal, financial or ethical consequences are involved.

There are also growing questions around energy use, creative authenticity and inclusion. Innovation without ethics is not progress. It is acceleration without direction.

One of the most striking insights from recent discussions has been how quickly AI is becoming a source of information for businesses themselves.

As we approach our third term ballot this June (head to our website for more info), it is entirely reasonable to assume that some of our members will turn to chatbots to understand what they are voting on. That prompted us to test what those tools currently say about FOR Cardiff.

The results were largely balanced and factual, but they were also revealing. They highlighted how easily misunderstandings can arise, and how important it is that accurate, up to date information is publicly available and easy for both people and machines to access.

In a world where fewer people read long documents, clarity and transparency are not just good practice. They are essential.

This has wider implications for the city. Anecdotally, destination organisations are already seeing a reduction in direct website traffic as visitors ask AI tools where to go and what to do.

That changes the rules of place marketing. It reduces control over narrative, but it also creates opportunities for a broader and more authentic picture of a city to emerge.

The question is whether cities are ready to engage at that level. Do we understand what information is being surfaced?

Are we correcting inaccuracies? Are we collaborating across organisations to ensure that the story being told about our place reflects reality rather than assumption?

Cities that approach AI thoughtfully have an opportunity to strengthen trust, competitiveness and reputation. Those that ignore it risk being defined by others.

The future of the city will not be shaped by technology alone, but by how we choose to govern and apply it. Innovation, in that sense, is not about tools. It is about intent.