An Irish parliamentary committee has heard that the world's biggest technology companies have a “huge task” to build public trust in artificial intelligence (AI) and that more research is needed to better understand the technology's potential to displace jobs.
Representatives from Amazon Web Services, Google and Microsoft appeared before the Irish Parliament's Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment on Wednesday to discuss the latest developments in AI and their impact on Irish businesses.
Committee members heard that AI tools could eventually add 600 billion euros to the European economy, roughly the size of the EU's entire construction industry. Some AI products could improve productivity by eliminating repetitive tasks and saving time, companies said, while others could help with data collection and cybersecurity.
But members raised issues about trust and reliability, and the potential for AI to upend working conditions and the entire labor market.
Sinn Féin's enterprise and employment spokesman, Louise O'Reilly, said that while there were “incredible benefits” to adopting AI, there were widespread concerns about whether it would take away jobs and the effort and cost involved in implementing it within organisations.
When asked by O'Reilly what tech companies can do to “win the debate on AI”, Jeremy Rollison, head of EU policy at Microsoft, said “skills” were important, but also collaboration with regulators and governments.
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“We have a big job to do,” Rollison said. “And winning this argument is not something one organization can do alone. I think we have to have a lot of different conversations. I want to focus on upskilling, but maybe we need to come up with better words for it, because it's awareness, it's training, it's more than just computational skills. It has a lot to do with how you function in everyday environments and in professional environments.”
Against the backdrop of a rapidly changing technological environment, the World Economic Forum estimates that almost a quarter of all jobs globally will change by 2028, with 60 percent of jobs requiring “retraining” over the next two years, the committee heard.
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Responding to comments from Fine Gael MP David Stanton, Kieran McAuley, national technology director at Microsoft Ireland, said that tech multinationals were “looking quite closely at the impact of generative AI technologies on office workers”, but “less familiar” with the impact on people in more “labour-intensive jobs”.
Meanwhile, a Google representative declined to say when it would deem it safe to roll out its Overview AI tool in Europe. The product, which displays quick summaries of answers to search queries at the top of Google searches, has been criticized for returning nonsensical, inaccurate and offensive answers since its US launch in recent weeks.
In response to a question from O'Reilly, Ryan Mead, public policy and government relations manager for Google Ireland, said he had no information about whether Google plans to launch the product in Europe. [made] “Working with regulators,” he said.
