Laura Harmon (Labour)

I thank the witnesses for being here today. It is really good to get such a cross-section of views. I thank them all for their statements.

Listening to the witnesses today, I was struck by the benefits of AI but obviously the risks as well. The key things I am hearing are concerns around data protection, child abuse and child sexual abuse and the need for legislation to keep children safe. One of the areas I want to home in on is the idea of critical thinking. We hear that term bandied around a lot and about the importance of critical thinking for all of us in society. Maybe the National Parents Council would like to come in on this. What needs to be done to improve critical thinking for young people and for all of us as a society? How can we improve that? The younger generations are very much at the coalface for how AI is developing, but I am also thinking about future generations when it is going to be so normalised and even more ingrained in our society. We need to protect critical thinking to differentiate humanity from AI and keep that separation. How can we foster that?