A Fianna Fáil Senator has urged all parties to sign up to an AI code of conduct to avoid the technology being misused during an election. 

The Government has established an independent advisory council to examine what role AI could play in an election and there are calls for the Oireachtas to set up a Special Committee as well.

“I certainly feel that all political parties here should sign up to a code that they would use artificial intelligence responsibly and that they certainly wouldn’t use deepfakes or other materials to engage in misinformation and disinformation,” Senator Malcolm Byrne said.

Deep fakes

The technology is expected to advance hugely in the years ahead and Senator Byrne said many people could be tricked into believing something generated by AI is real.

“One of our challenges is that as technology develops, the deep fakes are becoming harder to detect,” he said.

“You can certainly look at watermarks and there are other suggestions being made about how you can identify something that is created by Artificial Intelligence.

“But as technology develops, it becomes harder and harder to determine what is real and what is not.”

AI has been described as a “great moment of potential and danger” for humanity; some have suggested it could lead to mass redundancy - as employers swap human workers for AI.

Others believe it will allow many people to forego the dull tasks like shopping that get in the way of our leisure time.

International regulation

A global summit on AI regulation is due to be held in London later this year.

Announcing the summit, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak described AI as having the “incredible potential to transform our lives for the better” but also warned it must be “developed and used in a way that is safe and secure”.

It is not yet known whether China will be invited to the summit - which some British MPs said was necessary for any regulations to have meaningful “buy in”.

Main image: Split of Leinster House and a phone with AI apps. .