Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. She will be aware the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science was not created to be just an administrative Department for universities and places of further and higher education, but rather to prepare Ireland for the technological revolution we are experiencing. A student who is due to sit his or her leaving certificate next month is more than likely to be in the world of work until the year 2070. If we reflect on the 1970s, we can see how rapidly technology has changed since then and we can also consider the exponential change we are going to see over the next four or five decades, especially in artificial intelligence, the data economy and applications. There is much positive potential in this area. The Government's own strategy, AI - Here for Good, outlines some of these. It sets out that the Government's ambition is to be an international leader in using AI to benefit our society and economy. It will be transformative in healthcare, transport and education and training, but it will be hugely disruptive as well. One of the big changes with this technology and automation is it will often hit some of the higher paid professions more than automation hit other functions in the past.

In recent months, we have seen the rise of ChatGPT and other AI language models. These are being used within our education system in particular. It is upending thoughts about how we assess students and educators have to respond. It is important we are proactive in our response. My question relates to the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, but it is equally relevant to the Minister of State's Department. It is not good enough for us to be negative, say "woe is us" and step back or to ban the use of ChatGPT, as some universities have tried to do, though none in this country. We cannot adopt a wait-and-see approach and we have to be proactive. Quality and Qualifications Ireland, QQI, is doing some good work in this area but we need consistency across our further and higher education systems and our education and training systems generally. We need clearer rules on how institutions, such as universities and others, allow the use of ChatGPT. Students must have an understanding of how AI and chatbots work and when they can and cannot use them. That must be very much based on an ethical framework. It is essential to the debate we must have across our educational system that we are proactive and do not simply wait for the technology to overtake us. This is coming. It is going to happen at a faster rate than we ever imagined and we have to be prepared. That is why it is important we have a public debate involving further and higher education providers, the education family generally, students and users and also those who are designing some of these new AI programmes and platforms. There is no doubt AI will be one of the most transformative technologies in education and wider society over the next decade.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator. I am giving this response on behalf of the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, but there are some comments that will also be relevant to the Department of Education and I can certainly raise this issue with it today.

In recent months, there has been a significant focus on the threat AI may pose to academic integrity. ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence chatbot launched in November 2022 and is currently one of the most well-known large language models in the public domain. As the Senator mentioned, there are others. These models can produce original pieces of text that may not be recognised by plagiarism detection tools and this creates the potential to facilitate undetectable academic cheating. The challenge for educators and learners is to discover how artificial intelligence can be used in ways that optimise teaching and learning opportunities, create space for innovative thinking and promote the potential for high-level achievement on the part of learners. If action is not taken, these potentially useful algorithms could be used to circumnavigate the education and qualifications system and lead to the awarding of qualifications to students who have not earned them.

QQI is the State agency under the remit of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science that is responsible for promoting the quality, integrity and reputation of Ireland’s further and higher education and training system. I understand QQI has been following recent developments in artificial intelligence tools, including ChatGPT, and how these tools are being used within the education and training system, both in Ireland and abroad. In February, QQI issued a guidance note on artificial intelligence to a wide range of education stakeholders, and a number of education and training providers have now initiated reviews of their policies on assessment and academic integrity. In March, QQI hosted an artificial intelligence webinar week that featured a range of topics and perspectives from international and national experts on the opportunities and challenges posed by artificial intelligence in higher education. As artificial intelligence can be used as an educational tool, students will need to understand how to use AI technology legitimately. It is important education providers clearly communicate to their students the circumstances under which use of artificial intelligence tools will be considered a threat to academic integrity. Students outsourcing their work to an AI system is just as problematic as students outsourcing their work to a contract cheating service. Whatever form of cheating is used, be it essay mills, AI or other means, it must be combated and providers must adapt.

In September 2021, my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Harris, launched new national principles and guidelines for academic integrity. QQI is now initiating work, in consultation with education providers, to revise and adapt these guidelines so they can be applicable across the higher and further education and training sectors and can be placed on a statutory footing. QQI is continuing to engage with higher education institutions to develop an academic integrity policy. It has also been engaging with learner representatives through the Union of Students in Ireland, USI, to discuss academic integrity matters and to hear feedback on how QQI and institutions can support students and learners to avoid academic misconduct. Furthermore, QQI has been working with publishing and advertising platforms to monitor, report and remove advertisements for academic cheating services. This is to make these services harder to find and therefore less accessible to students.

The Senator spoke of having a public debate, which is a good idea and something he could progress. This issue is obviously of importance and it is difficult for society or education to keep pace with technological advances.I am glad Quality and Qualifications Ireland, QQI, is taking a very proactive approach in this area, but AI will transform virtually every aspect of our life and work and various forms of automation will transform a wide range of professions. The Government needs to lead the public debate on this within the education space and broader society and, indeed, in many cases to be positive. The idea of a select committee within these Houses on artificial intelligence, emerging technologies and their potential impact could be welcome. We should look at training in the Houses of the Oireachtas on how AI will influence all of our work, because I can certainly envisage, at some stage in the future, my avatar posing a Commencement matter to a ministerial avatar and seeing an AI-enabled answer being delivered in response. Maybe it is happening already. This is transformative. The EU's AI Act will be its most important legislation this decade. However, we need to have an education and training system that adapts and is ready for the changes.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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None of us is irreplaceable and I am sure we could have avatars in the future. The Senator makes some very valid points. I should mention that legislation is in place since 2019. Ireland became the first country in Europe to enact legislation to address the growing issue of contract cheating in education and training. There were fines of €100,000 and up to five years' imprisonment for that. Under section 43A, it is an offence to facilitate a learner to cheat; advertise a cheating service; and publish ads for cheating services to learners. As a follow-up to that 2019 legislation, QQI established the national academic integrity network. It raises awareness of academic integrity and has a communications strategy. There is also the global academic integrity network, which the Minister, Deputy Harris, launched in October 2022. It is a consortium of international education agencies. It aims to develop and mobilise an international response to the growing threat of essay mills, especially since online and hybrid learning in the pandemic. There are 24 members in the network, from a number of international jurisdictions and it recently met to discuss the implications of AI tools such as ChatGPT for academic integrity. However, I note what the Senator said about a technological revolution. There should be consistency within the higher education systems and indeed the education system as a whole.