Dr. Ciarán Seoighe:

I am delighted to be here on behalf of Taighde Éireann or Research Ireland. I am particularly pleased to be able to contribute to the work of this newly formed committee on AI by which, to lean into Deputy Keogh's comment, I mean artificial intelligence in this case. It was great to hear the questions, concerns and things that are on the minds of members. These are exactly the right kinds of questions that we need to ask right now. We will be delighted to contribute to that in any way we can today and subsequently in providing more access to expertise and beyond. We remain at the committee's disposal at any time.

Taighde Éireann is a new State agency and this is our first time attending an Oireachtas committee meeting. Research Ireland plays a pivotal role in shaping the future of research and innovation in Ireland by funding and supporting world-class research across a range of disciplines. As Ireland's national research and innovation agency, we are committed to fostering a vibrant, diverse and inclusive ecosystem that supports both economic and social progress. Research Ireland builds on the strengths and heritage of its predecessor agencies, namely, Science Foundation Ireland and the Irish Research Council.

I am joined by two experts in the field of AI who are here to support our discussions. They come from publicly funded research. An important aspect of the witnesses and experts we can bring here is that they come from our universities where academic freedom and the freedom to think independently are critical and paramount. That gives us real expertise that we can bring to the committee.

I am joined by Alan Smeaton, emeritus professor of computing at DCU. He has multiple decades - I hope he does not mind me saying so - of pioneering research in multimedia indexing, video processing and AI applications. Alan is a member of various committees and advisory councils nationally and internationally.

On my left is Susan Leavy, who is an assistant professor at the school of information and communication in UCD. Her research focuses on ethical and trustworthy AI and AI governance, which are topics we heard a great deal about in earlier comments. Her background spans artificial intelligence, philosophy, social sciences and beyond. Similar to Alan, she represents Ireland nationally and internationally on various forums and groups.

AI is, as members have alluded to, one of the most transformative and potentially disruptive innovations in many years. While it offers substantial benefits to individuals and society, it also has major implications in areas such as privacy, ethics, security and many more. AI focuses on creating systems or machines that can perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. These include learning, reasoning, problem-solving, understanding language and recognising patterns or images.

As members will be aware, both the OECD and the EU AI Act have provided definitions for what AI is. The EU AI Act focuses on AI as a system. It states:

AI system’ means a machine-based system that is designed to operate with varying levels of autonomy, that may exhibit adaptiveness after deployment and that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from the input it receives, how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations or decisions that can influence physical or virtual environments.

We will probably thrash out this definition a little further over the course of the discussion. The OECD definition is similar, but slightly more nuanced.

AI systems that are used to generate content are referred to as generative AI. These have received huge attention in recent years, as shown by the popularity of tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Claude and many others. Such systems are now widely available and easy to use and are resulting in major disruption across various aspects of society.

While AI has witnessed considerable advancements in recent years, as a research and innovation funder, we have been supporting the critical understanding, knowledge development and discovery of AI through our support for researchers across the higher education institutes in Ireland over the past 20 years, building the knowledge and skills that are extremely beneficial to our country as AI has moved more front and centre in people’s daily lives. Research Ireland has a diverse investment portfolio amounting to in the region of €400 million. This is invested in research in AI and related areas. These include programmes supporting research infrastructure, enterprise and industry partnerships, early career researchers and education and public engagement initiatives through to large-scale collaborative research centres. Key to ensuring that we have the expertise to be at the forefront of this technology, Research Ireland is strategically investing in AI through our network of research centres. These centres bring together academic researchers and industry partners to tackle challenges in AI, from trustworthy machine learning to robotics and natural language processing.

In parallel, we are cultivating the next generation of data, analytics and AI talent through centres for research training, CRTs, that provide cohort-based PhD training. The CRT programme was launched in 2019 with an investment of €100 million, under the theme of data and ICT skills for the future. Research Ireland currently funds six CRTs across the country in the areas of AI, data science, genomics, machine learning, digitally enhanced reality and advanced networks for sustainable societies. The six centres have recruited more than 760 students, over 40% of whom are women, who have undertaken 223 industry placements. It is our ambition to run future iterations of this programme.

Through these initiatives, Research Ireland is not only advancing cutting-edge AI research and innovation but also providing national and international expertise and building a robust pipeline of skilled professionals who will lead Ireland’s digital future.

Research and innovation funding agencies globally play a central role in shaping research by setting priorities, designing funding programmes, managing peer review, and overseeing grants and impact assessments. Increasingly, these agencies are exploring the use of AI to streamline and enhance these processes. When governed responsibly, AI can support tasks such as proposal evaluation and reporting. All of these changes are reflected in the Global Research Council’s principles for AI adoption in research management, which were agreed at a recent meeting. These principles are, by and large, in agreement with the Guidelines for Responsible Use of AI in the Public Sector, recently published by the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform. They relate to: AI adoption; ensuring that decision-making is always done with humans in the loop; bridging the digital divide – which, I see, has been covered here many times; international collaboration; watching for bias and fairness in everything that is done; transparency and accountability; data privacy and security; AI literacy, which means that people using the systems know how they are using them; and sustainable development, which has also been discussed here.

As the Irish Government representative, I was involved in leading our expert contributions to the recently published UK-led independent AI safety report. This report on the state of advanced AI capabilities and risks was written by almost 100 AI experts, including representatives nominated by 33 countries and intergovernmental agencies. While the report is concerned with AI risks and AI safety, it also recognises that AI offers many potential benefits for people, businesses and society. The report, which is well worth reading if members have time, summarises the scientific evidence on three core questions: what can general-purpose AI do; what are the risks associated with it; and what mitigation techniques there are against these risks? Interestingly, there is currently no consensus among the world’s leading AI experts on what the future for AI holds. Undoubtedly, there are significant risks that need to be considered and also huge benefits that can be realised if we make the right decisions. I have heard that reiterated in the room today. Among researchers, there are those who believe that AI will be a tremendous boon for mankind and those who believe it could be destructive. However, it is generally agreed - this is the key point for anyone to take away today - that the future of AI is not predetermined and the research-informed decisions we make today can create the AI future we want tomorrow.

I will finish by paraphrasing Professor Stuart J. Russell, a leading researcher in AI who said that our job was to make safe AI; it was not to make AI and make it safe subsequently. We should build safety in from the outset. This is the key element of what we want to do, namely, put safety into AI as a core element.

I thank members for their attention. I look forward to the discussion and answering any questions they may have.