Dr. Ciarán Seoighe:

The main contribution to the report is the experts that we can connect into reasonably quickly in Ireland. One of the reasons we could be so responsive on that report and we could turn around some of the answers faster is they sometimes give us very short deadlines. We are working through windows of 48 hours to go through hundreds of pages and return things. We are very fortunate that we had people like Professor Smeaton, Professor Barry O'Sullivan and assistant Professor Susan Leavy. Those three were the approved experts that would review everything so we would turn things around. The reason we had an impact, and the reason we can be involved in that, is the interconnected nature of Ireland and the fact we have a relatively small AI community. Most of us know each other in the AI community and we all communicate and talk on a regular basis so we can quickly get a response out there.

In terms of impact, as we review the document there are a range of areas. We did talk about human rights, which, as I have said, are a critical element that needed to be in the report. We also talked about how the report needed to bring balance and that it is too easy to scaremonger in these reports and there is a need to bring balance about opportunities and risks, and how those risks are managed.

They are working on the next iteration of the report. The report is great in giving a really good sense of where AI is right now. It is an absolute tour of all the latest thinking and all the ideas. There are literally hundreds of pages of references so members can read the source information, which allows transparency as people are able to track all the information. What the report lacked to an extent, which is what they are pushing, was what should be done by policymakers such as members of the committee. It is great to say that this and that could happen, or that this or that risk could happen but what do we do about it? The next evolution of the report is to start to talk about recommendations and even look for scenarios. Scenarios is a really interesting way to go. For example, there are three or four potential scenarios and here are triggers that would identify on which scenario we might currently be on and, therefore, what steps we should take around going to those scenarios. That is where the report is hopefully going next. It is looking at scenarios, and looking for recommendations and guidelines.

They are very clear that they do not want to tell policymakers what to do. They do not want to encroach on anybody's sovereign rights and authority. Now, if we just go forward from the state of the science to recommendations, it will be a much more helpful report.