Ireland risks creating a two-tier economy unless workers and students are given the skills to keep pace with artificial intelligence, a group of Fine Gael TDs and Senators have claimed.
Ahead of Fine Gael’s Ard Fheis in Cork this weekend, the conference will hear how the party will tackle the rise of AI.
Ahead of the discussion in Cork this weekend, Deputy James Geoghegan, vice-chair of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on AI has published an opening discussion paper, ‘Shaping Ireland’s AI Transition’, along with members of the Fine Gael party including TDs John Clendennen and Keira Keogh, and Senator Gareth Scahill.
The four Fine Gael politicians said the initial paper proposes an AI skills guarantee for every worker and a national AI and digital skills qualification for secondary school students.
The paper, which will be debated and discussed with Fine Gael members this weekend, also proposes a personal training account that would follow people throughout their careers.
It sets out a proposal to prepare the workforce, schools and the wider economy for the changes being driven by AI.
The four politicians hope the discussion will help form part of considerations towards an agreed government policy in the future.
“I don’t want to see an Ireland where a graduate in a technology company can benefit from AI, but a 45-year-old office worker, a small business owner or somebody returning to the workforce is left wondering whether their skills will still be relevant in five years’ time,” Geoghegan said.
The Dublin Bay South TD said, “people should have the opportunity to retrain throughout their lives, not just when they lose their jobs.”
On education, Geoghegan said children are taught to read, write and use computers.
He said in an age of AI, understanding how to use AI, question its answers and recognise when it incorrectly hallucinates should become part of that basic education.
“Every child should leave secondary school knowing how to use AI safely and intelligently. That should not depend on what school they attend or whether their parents can afford the latest technology,” he stated.
The paper also raises questions about how Ireland’s tax system may need to adapt if AI increases company profits while reducing demand for certain types of work.
Geoghegan said the Ard Fheis will give members the chance to examine proposals, challenge assumptions and contribute their own ideas.
“This paper is intended to start a discussion. The Government has already taken important steps on AI, including investment in skills and the development of our national AI strategy. The purpose of this paper is to look at what more we might need to consider as the technology develops.
“People working in small businesses, schools, offices, farming and communities across Ireland will all have different experiences of AI, and their views should help shape the debate.
“Ireland has spent decades preparing our economy to attract the world’s biggest technology companies. Now we need to put the same ambition into preparing Irish people for the technologies those companies are creating,” the Southside TD said.