It is an incredibly worrying time for artists. They are watching as their painstakingly produced works are used without permission to train generative AI that is then directly competing with them. No permission is sought, no payment is made and it is a huge infringement of copyright. It is downright piracy. Not only that, but these AI programmes can produce content in a fraction of the time and with a fraction of the effort. I listened earlier to Danny O’Donoghue from The Script speaking about this on RTÉ. He summed it up well when he said it was intellectual property theft on an industrial scale. I told him that my wife and I expected a huge performance at Slane, which I have no doubt he will provide.

Sentiment score: -0.09

He replied that he expected that we would be there in our brown boots and Stetsons. I said I would do my best. That is the reality we are dealing with. We have to ensure that State agencies and semi-State companies do not continue to use artificial intelligence to produce what should be done by artists and is actually stolen from artists. I commend Deputy Ó Snodaigh on an obair uilig atá déanta aige fá choinne ealaíontóirí agus na healaíne. Caithfimid cuid mhór oibre a dhéanamh. The Minister of State has made promises here. They need to be delivered upon – it is as simple as that. We need to look after artists.

Sentiment score: 0.20