Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)

I thank the witnesses for their contributions. I confirm to the Chair that I am on the Leinster House campus.

Following on with a similar theme, in terms of what was said earlier and the statement to the effect that we face two distinct sets of risks that must be balanced simultaneously and not ranked. I am of the view that we have to rank them. There is an idea that there is potential for societal destruction with this technology and that artificial intelligence could be used to drive division and hate. There are some parallels with the potential of the Internet and of social media to bring people together and foster harmony among them. There is an argument that the reality has been very different in terms of recommender algorithms. What would a risk framework look like? Do the witnesses have concerns around the potential impact of nefarious actors to bolt some of this artificial intelligence onto social media? There are many international examples of where real harm has been done, whether by means of misinformation, disinformation and the peddling of hate or division. How do we get that stuff right? What is the framework or the approach we should take? Do the witnesses believe it is possible to regulate or have laws to ensure that the stuff to which I refer is managed, given the experience to date in relation to social media and other areas and recognising, as we heard in the first session, that this is developer- or big-tech led? Developers and big tech own and control the stuff. Nation states are limited in terms of their ability to hold these folks to account. Is there potential to regulate, to hold those to whom I refer to account and to strike a fair and reasonable balance in respect of all of these matters?

Will the witnesses also speak to the point on digital literacy? Is digital literacy of primary importance in relation to AI literacy? The Finnish model was referred to. My understanding is that it is literally embedded into not just the education system but every aspect of government affairs. What might that look like?