James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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My apologies for having to step away but it is one of those days. I thank all the witnesses for being here. I was here for all of their opening statements and some of the exchanges in between. Again, apologies if these types of questions have been asked already.

There is a universal theme that we are hearing and learning about in the widespread biases when it comes to AI that clearly impacts the people the witnesses are or represent. That is going to be the biggest challenge in harnessing the best we can get from innovation and AI, in an environment where all of these companies are aggressively competing with one another. There does not appear to be any time for a pause or a sufficient amount of independent appraisal of the types of technologies as they are moving because they are all so competitive with one another to bring their products to market. Let us be truthful: the products that they are bringing to market are not designed for vulnerable groups or what you might describe as minority groups. Yet, we know that the technologies that are being produced could be unbelievably impactful in a whole host of areas, including for the people represented by the organisations present.

On the latter element, I have been invited by at least one technology company to see their adaptive technology. A lot of it is in beta format or a beginner form of adaptive technologies, particularly for people with intellectual disabilities. Have any of the technology companies that are in this space and producing AI technologies engaged with the organisations represented here in any shape or form?