I move:
“That Seanad Éireann:
notes:
- the enormous challenges and opportunities that Artificial Intelligence(AI) and emerging technologies present for all sectors of society;
- that AI will be embedded in almost every aspect of life;
- that AI could lead to significant positive improvements in delivery of services such as healthcare or in transport;
- the particular impact of the use of AI on elections and on the democratic process and how it can contribute to the spread of misinformation and disinformation;
- the development of the AI Act as part of a suite of digital legislation and regulation by the European Union; and
- recent global discussions on AI regulation, including the UK Government’s AI Safety Summit;
recognises the positive environment for AI research and enterprise development in Ireland, underpinned by:
- the National AI Strategy: AI –Here for Good;
- the support of State agencies for indigenous and multinational AI and technology companies; and - the positive work of ADAPT, the world- leading Science Foundation Ireland funded AI research centre involving Ireland’s universities;
welcomes:
- the establishment by the Government of an AI Advisory Council and the appointment of an AI Ambassador;
- the plan by the Government to establish an AI cluster to support enterprise development in this sector; and
- the development of tax incentives for angel investors in new technology start-ups;
further notes:
- the need for public engagement and greater understanding of Artificial Intelligence, emerging technologies and their impact;
- the potentially destabilising impact of the misuse of AI and deepfakes in elections and referendums;
and calls for:
- the establishment of an Oireachtas Special Select Committee on AI and Emerging Technologies during this Oireachtas term;
- the development in the next Oireachtas of a Committee of the Future, similar to the Committee of the Future developed in Finland, that will examine and report on major national challenges and opportunities, including through technological change;
- greater emphasis on understanding of AI and other technologies within our education system;
- the development of a framework for how the Government can collaborate better with academia and industry to guide AI research and the ethical application of the technology;
- a training programme in the Oireachtas on the impact of technology;
- a national awareness campaign on AI and technological change and its impact;
- a strategy to be formulated by the Electoral Commission to tackle the misuse of AI in elections and political campaigning; and
- a code to be developed for all political parties and candidates around the appropriate use of AI in elections and political campaigning.”
I am grateful to the Minister of State for coming to the House this evening for this debate on artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. We are in a period of tremendous change. Artificial intelligence and other technologies are changing and will change our lives in a very dramatic fashion, now and into the future. There will hardly be a sector in Irish society or globally that will not be impacted by this. Therefore it is critical that all our citizens are prepared for those changes and that everyone is poised to benefit. This motion recognises that the Government has taken the lead in several areas with regard to artificial intelligence. This includes the development of the AI strategy. It is two now years old and given how quickly AI and new technology is changing there is probably a need for that strategy to be more dynamic and constantly updated. The Government has appointed an AI ambassador and there is a process to appoint an AI advisory council. I was very glad when the Minister of State informed us there had been a lot of applications to sit on that council. He might update the House on that.
It was particularly welcome that the Minister of State personally attended at Bletchley Park in the UK for the AI safety summit. I also welcome his support for my calls for the idea of Ireland hosting the EU’s agency on artificial intelligence.
While much of the concentration around artificial intelligence and machine learning will be about potential harms, it is also critically important that we recognise the many opportunities for good that can result. Healthcare is one of the particular areas where it could be transformative whether in diagnosis, treatment and clinical decision making or, indeed, in drugs research. It is essential that there is an ethical basis for the use of AI. That should be no different to the use of any new technology. It is also important when we talk about healthcare and AI that there is always a right to a second opinion and that is maintained. Algorithms already out-perform radiologists identifying malignant tumours and cancers and large data models are being used to assist in clinical trials. That is just one area where it is positive. In every single area, from education to agriculture, it will be transformative.
Therefore it is important that with this new technology the necessary safeguards are in place to put the citizen first. The AI Act being discussed at European level has the potential to be the most significant piece of legislation enacted by the European Union this decade. Given the capacity of AI to cause harm as well as good, it is essential that the EU does reach agreement and that the risk-based approach, with a view to minimising risks to individuals and humanities would inform the final legislation. It is critical that we would not assume that technology companies will conform with any regulation. Indeed, if our experience with social media has taught us anything, self regulation by the technology companies does not work.
Before the deployment of any new AI-enbabled technology takes place, we must ensure that risk management takes place and that this must be independently assured. We need to remember that with AI most flaws cannot be removed once a system has been trained. It is critical, therefore, that we enforce AI product safety in the same way we would expect any other product that would be brought to market.
As part of the Spanish presidency there have been efforts to come to a final agreement around the AI Act. The principles of a risk-based approach and the precautionary principles as well as the principles that underline our own national strategy about the safety of citizens and putting citizens first must also inform the AI Act.
I was particularly glad to see the Minister of State was at Bletchley Park because democracies have a particular responsibility to ensure that human rights and ethics inform the roll-out of any AI technologies. We have to protect our democratic institutions and elections from the misuse of AI. The spread of misinformation and disinformation in elections is nothing new. It has gone on back through the ages but the difference, as we all know, is that AI will now allow it to be done at a scale and speed that has the potential to destabilise the political environment in which we all operate. We have seen the deployment of deep fakes and synthetic media in recent elections including in Slovakia and in the presidential election in Argentina. Some of these deep fakes appear to be relatively simple constructs but as with all technologies, they will improve over time and will become far more believable.
I have absolutely no doubt that in electoral contexts in this country over the next two years, we will see the deployment of deep fakes, the misuse or attempted misuse of AI, and the spread of misinformation and disinformation, which could potentially damage our political process. I have no doubt that at a crucial point in an election campaign here, there will be an effort to deploy a deep fake of one of our political leaders or of somebody who could influence an election and that could have profound implications. People in this House can only imagine what would happen if the Tánaiste, the Taoiseach, Deputy McDonald, Deputy Bacik, or any of our political leaders were to appear through a deep fake, three or four days before an election, to be saying something that was controversial or deeply damaging to their election prospects. The difficulty is that this deep fake would be widely shared on social media and by the time a denial was issued, the damage could potentially have been done. The discussion in the political context would be around the deep fake. There would be plenty of people who would deny, even if it was identified as a deep fake, that it was a deep fake in the first place. We need only look at our experience during the pandemic with the spread of misinformation and disinformation and think about that supercharged in an election context. Obviously, that is not just going to have an impact on elections in this country; this is something we will see happening globally. Therefore, it is critical that the Electoral Commission take this matter quite seriously. There is a responsibility on political parties to sign up to a pledge that they will not misuse AI for the purpose of deep fakes or for misinformation or disinformation. There is always going to be a danger of campaigns that will do it. There will always be a danger of state actors, particularly from non-democratic countries, who will use it to try to destabilise political democracies and we have to be on our guard against it. I would certainly hope the Electoral Commission will regard this as a top priority.
We very clearly need action from the technology companies themselves. We have to ensure that when they are designing any product, they adopt the original Google motto of "do no evil". We have to think about ensuring when those products are being designed that product and citizen safety is built in right at the very start. However, as I said before, we cannot allow self-regulation to take place. I totally accept that we need to allow regulation and legislation that does not hinder innovation. We must have regulatory sandboxes that allow new experiments and new innovations to take place, but at all times we have to ensure the safety of our citizens comes first. Striking that balance is critical. As I said before, it is no different from having regard to product safety when rolling out any new product.
Our education systems will need to be adapted so that they can make effective use of new technologies and so that those students going through our school systems understand algorithms, how deep fakes are made and their potential impact, and the potential to be able to solve global challenges.
The Minister needs to lead on this debate, which is around a process and around improved public awareness of the impact of AI. I have previously called for an Oireachtas committee or a special Seanad committee on AI and emerging technologies, with public hearings which will broaden the public debate. In the next Oireachtas, we should consider establishing a committee of the future along the lines of that established in Finland, which looks at how big-picture issues will impact on Irish society. I thank the Minister of State for his leadership on this issue. I hope we can contribute further to the debate on something that will transform all our lives.
