When I think of AI, I get so excited, because I genuinely see this as an evolution of us as a species from when we first picked up tools to a point in our history where we are about to see those tools take on a life of their own. It is genuinely awe-inspiring to consider the transformation that could bring to us as a globe and what it could do for us as a population, but sadly, the other thing I think of is that we cannot have nice things. Unfortunately, the way AI is being governed and managed is wreaking havoc on our society. Nobody is talking honestly about labour displacement from AI. We are talking about the fact that it will displace jobs, that it will create other jobs, and that it will have to keep up with the tech and create better, more high-skilled job. That is simply not true. We will see labour displacement at a scale which is unprecedented in our history. We have to start talking about the just transition which that will require on the same level that we will see the environmental just transition. It is already happening, with issues with labour quality and labour precarity that we have already seen happen over the past number of decades simply being a result of the automation and AI that we are seeing. Unfortunately, those who are most structurally disadvantaged in society will be the ones pushed into poverty and disadvantaged even further. Another way that it is wreaking havoc on society is through decision-making, because ultimately, when we think about it, what AI can do is allow us to delegate decision-making from humans to machines, which is exciting when considering the efficiencies that can bring about and potentially the impartiality, but, unfortunately, again, what we are seeing is that those tools are being developed with biases and errors that we as humans bake into them, only now, when those biases and errors play out, they are at such a scale that they can absolutely destroy parts of our society. The area which I am most concerned about, which we are seeing play out right in front of our eyes, is the vulnerabilities that we as humans are exposed to, and the exploitation. Just as the business models of big tech right now exploit our data, AI will exploit our human emotions. That is exactly what is happening. We have heard stories of the suicides that people are being pushed to through AI chatbots. We have seen across society over the past couple of weeks the horrific way in which it is being used to promote image-based sexual abuse and the development and proliferation of CSAM. It makes me so sad, because I see so much that could happen if we were properly governing AI. We could look at labour displacement in a way that allowed us to have more leisure time in our lives, that allowed us to care for our loved ones without the poverty that normally ensues. There is so much we could do on labour. There is so much that we could do on decision-making and the vulnerabilities that I mentioned that could be flipped on its head and turned into positive forces in our society, but because the governance and regulation of AI is so weak in this State, in the European Union and across our globe, that is not happening. I want to pick up on one thing that the Minister of State said in his opening statement about the fact that simplification does not mean deregulation. I absolutely reject that statement, because that is what it does. To deny the fact that big tech is lobbying Brussels, Washington and Dublin is just sticking your head in the sand. Of course it is about deregulation and capitulation to these big tech companies. I also have issues with the fact that the dedicated AI office, which I appreciate is going to be detached from the Department of enterprise, is being developed within it. I see a slew of conflicts with the fact that that is a Department helping and assisting enterprises to use AI while also trying to govern it and the sandbox in which those things are being tested. AI will only have this transformational impact on our society if the public has trust in it. None of the things that this Government is doing are inspiring that trust right now. I laud the Minister of State with responsibility for AI and what she has done to shift this Government into action on this issue.

Sentiment score: -0.07