Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 23 April 2024

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth

Ireland's International Obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: Discussion

3:00 pm

Luke Fagan:

There have been examples of phones and people needing them for safety or to tell their parents they are at home. There is something I feel very strongly about that has not been mentioned yet. I have been volunteering with another group for about two years. It has to do with individuals who are visually impaired, perhaps with no vision or who are partially blind. They use technology, phones and AI for absolutely everything. It is astonishing how they do it. The phone speaks out to them and guides them through everything. The fact they are able to use their phones brings them joy and allows them to do so much more. They had a talent show a few months ago and all of these young people were able to make songs and write up lyrics and chords with the AI on their phones. It brought them so much joy and happiness. They had all of their families there and everyone who worked with them along the way. This is a great thing with AI and phones. When people look at AI we always speak about the negative parts of it, but there are many positives to AI and this one should be mentioned more and spoken about.