The draft EU AI Act will set out harmonised rules for the design, development, placement on the market and use of AI systems in the Union. The Act will ensure the protection of fundamental rights and user safety as well as build trust in the development and uptake of AI, thereby enhancing EU investment and innovation. The proposal aims to address the risks generated by specific uses of AI through a set of complementary, proportionate and flexible rules. Ireland very much welcomes the development of the AI Act and the progress that is being made at Council and at the European Parliament to advance this important Act. Given that AI has evolved significantly in the past few months, it is important that this regulation is flexible and future-proofed in order to ensure that it continues to protect the safety and fundamental rights of the individual while also ensuring that innovation for good continues in this area.
The European Parliament agreed its approach by plenary vote on 14 June. Officials in my Department are examining the text and consulting with relevant stakeholders to refine Ireland's position on the agreed text. We are supportive of measures that provide clarity and reassurance to all stakeholders engaged in this complex and evolving area, particularly measures that help ensure a level playing field in Europe. We are aware that there are still matters that require more detailed discussion and this is a priority for my Department in the coming weeks and months. It is already clear from the first trilogue meeting that some issues, such as an agreed definition of AI, will be more difficult to resolve than others. However, given how quickly this technology is evolving, it is clear that there is a willingness among all parties to move forward and reach agreement on this regulation by the end of 2023 or very early in 2024.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
Final agreement on the Act is expected by late 2023 or very early into 2024. Existing law also applies in the context of AI, so all of the legal protections for workers are still available but the EU AI Act will add an additional layer of protection where AI tools are deployed.
The national AI strategy, AI - Here for Good, was launched in July 2021 and set out a vision that Ireland would be an international leader in using AI to the benefit of our population through a people-centred and ethical approach to AI development, adoption and use. Much progress has been made since then in preparing for AI, including by putting appropriate safeguards in place.
Of course, as with previous technological advances, changes to the world of work are to be expected but it is likely that much of the disruption caused by AI will result in changes to job roles, tasks and distribution rather than actual job losses. Indeed, a recent March 2023 OECD study on the impact of AI on the workplace found that AI users were more than four times as likely to say that AI had improved working conditions as to say that AI had worsened them. The report found that while AI has automated many repetitive and dangerous tasks, it has also created new tasks. The key recommendation of the report is that the adoption of Al results in significant skill changes - not just specialised AI skills but human skills such as creativity and communication.
Last year, at the request of my Department, the expert group on future skills needs published AI Skills: A Preliminary assessment of the skills needed for the deployment, management and regulation of artificial intelligence, a review of the skills implications of AI over the next five to ten years, as well as the skills-related actions needed to realise the potential of AI. My officials are working closely with the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to ensure the recommendations of the review are acted on.