Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 18 November 2025

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence, Truth and Democracy: Discussion

2:00 am

Professor Muiris MacCarthaigh:

Absolutely, yes. It is happening very quickly. In fact, some of our students are doing PhDs on the different dispositions of public service to accept or, in some cases, have the confidence to critically use AI and say, "Right, that is what it is saying but I do not believe it and I am going to look myself." The essential issue here is, as Dr. Padmanabhan has mentioned, that the fundamental nature of public administration is accountability for process and that is really being challenged by AI.