Ms Elaine Grehan:

The DPO Network welcomes the opportunity to be here today. The DPO Network organisations are As I Am, Ireland's national autism advocacy organisation, Disabled Women Ireland, DWI, Independent Living Movement Ireland, ILMI, the Irish Deaf Society, IDS, and the National Platform of Self Advocates. We understand that AI-powered assistive technology can provide supports for us inside and outside the home, such as access to information, the Internet, home controls and so on. Disabled people are using AI to help with composing letters or documents that they need, such as using large language models like ChatGPT to help with information to bring to medical professionals. However, we are concerned about the growth of AI and its unknown applications. We are concerned that there is little transparency on how AI is working and how it will be controlled for human benefit or for profit.

Disabled people and deaf people must have a role in shaping how AI is developed now and into the future. AI is not neutral. Disabled people fear that AI will reflect existing institutional and structural barriers and attitudes, including biases relating to gender, ethnicity and impairment, unless there is clear transparency to ensure that structural biases are not built into these systems. A recent study in the UK by the London School of Economics care policy and evaluation centre reports that large language models, LLMs, used by over half of England's local authorities to support social workers may be introducing gender bias into care decisions. For example, Google's widely used AI model, Gemma, downplays women's physical and mental issues in comparison with men's when used to generate and summarise case notes.

AI is impacting on jobs. This is a serious concern, given the levels of unemployment among disabled people in Ireland, recently reported as the worst in the EU, at 20% below the EU average. Disabled people need support around AI and digital literacy. We need to ensure equality of access for all disabled people and to ensure there is no digital divide. There are huge concerns about the carbon footprint and energy demands of AI systems. AI contributes to climate change, and climate change will likely have a disproportionate impact on the lives of disabled people.

Deaf people have specific concerns about AI related to sign language, and the Irish Deaf Society has submitted a separate paper on this topic. The development of AI and sign languages must be grounded in rights, inclusion and respect. The Irish Deaf Society calls for national- and EU-level frameworks that recognise deaf people's linguistic autonomy, promote meaningful participation and ensure technology is rooted in respect. Deaf people must be central in the design, development and deployment of sign language AI technologies.

We are aware that State agencies are likely to look to deploy AI for data-driven decisions. Disabled people, through our DPOs, need to inform that decisions made relating to AI bring potential risks around the autonomy and choice of disabled people. Under the public sector duty, when AI contracts are awarded, we need to ensure equality and human rights standards are applied. We need transparency around the deployment of AI with a clear role for DPOs. State agencies need to build in informed consent, the right to opt out and transparency in how and what information is going to be used. We are afraid that AI and technology will be seen as cost-effective replacements for human supports such as personal assistance services. We fear that decisions requiring human analysis or instinct will be made by an AI that cannot manage the nuances of life. We need to control and direct AI to meet our needs and not have AI direct and control our lives. We have provided more information in the documentation submitted to the committee.