The Mancunian Way: AI Manchester

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Here's the Mancunian Way for today:

Hello,

The face of the city is changing all the time and it’s unrecognisable from the town we knew a couple of decades ago. But what would it look like if things were left to Artificial Intelligence?

For reasons known only to himself - perhaps he’s in league with the robots - reporter Damon Wilkinson asked an AI generator to imagine how Manchester might look in the future. You can see one of the results below.

The images show the city centre with 100 skyscrapers, if the flowers of Piccadilly Gardens were restored, if Deansgate was pedestrianised and if Piccadilly Station was redeveloped.

On to the news. In today’s newsletter we’re discussing an emerging story about how mould could have contributed to the death of another Greater Manchester resident - this time in private accommodation. We’ll also be hearing from the man who discovered Herman's Hermits and finding the secret meeting place of Manchester’s Pokemon fans. Let’s begin.

My colleague Stephen Topping - who broke the story of Awaab Ishak and investigated living conditions on Rochdale’s Freehold estate - reported from a sad court hearing this week. He reports that another person's death is suspected of being linked to mould at their home - this time at a privately-rented property.

Luke Brooks’ case is being investigated by police and a coroner. An expert has suggested his death, on October 25 last year, was related to conditions at his family's privately-rented property in Oldham - described as 'heavily mould-infested'. It has