{"id":302986,"date":"2026-02-17T19:17:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T19:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/302986\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T19:17:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T19:17:08","slug":"ai-produced-material-online-threatens-to-erode-the-foundations-of-democratic-life-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/302986\/","title":{"rendered":"AI-produced material online threatens to \u2018erode the foundations of democratic life\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Generative artificial intelligence<\/a> tools are a \u201csocietal disaster\u201d and a \u201cmajor threat\u201d to truth and democracy, a Trinity College Dublin<\/a> academic has warned. <\/p>\n

An Oireachtas committee meeting to discuss the role of truth and democracy in an \u201cAI-driven world\u201d heard views that generative AI produces \u201cplausible output without any regard for truth or accuracy\u201d.<\/p>\n

Citing a deepfake video<\/a> that depicted then presidential candidate Catherine Connolly<\/a> withdrawing from the election days before the public cast their votes, Abeba Birhane said such technology can \u201cerode the foundations of democratic life\u201d.<\/p>\n

Describing the video as a \u201chigh-stakes\u201d example, Birhane noted it amassed tens of thousands of views on Facebook before it was removed by Meta.<\/p>\n

The assistant professor of AI and director of Trinity\u2019s AI Accountability Lab told committee members that as the AI industry, social media and search platforms grow \u201cless trustworthy\u201d, they erode the \u201cfoundations of democratic life\u201d such as trust and accountability.<\/p>\n

Labelling generative AI, which includes tools such as ChatGPT<\/a> and X\u2019s Grok<\/a>, as a \u201csocial disaster\u201d, Birhane said they are a \u201cmajor threat to truth, democratic processes, information ecosystems, knowledge production and the entire social fabric itself\u201d. <\/p>\n

Birhane said that platforms including Facebook, Google and OpenAI\u2019s ChatGPT are now operating at an \u201cinfrastructural scale in Ireland, shaping information, communication and access to knowledge\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cYet their algorithms remain opaque, their governance remains private, with minimal democratic accountability to the public who depend on them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLarge tech and AI companies, despite selling promises of innovation and societal benefit, monetise and undermine the very society they claim to serve. What is needed is not just regulation, but active enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ella Jakubowska, head of policy at advocacy group European Digital Rights, argued the EU\u2019s landmark AI Act, which is \u201csupposed to create a framework for accountability\u201d, is falling victim to the \u201cEU\u2019s broad deregulation agenda\u201d.<\/p>\n

She told committee members that amendments to the Act published late last year propose \u201ctaking the teeth out of this law and turning it into a piece of self-regulation\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis agenda is being pushed at the highest levels of the European Commission, under the banner of \u2018simplification\u2019,\u201d she said, arguing that instead, core protections were being \u201creopened\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0The hard truth about AI at work? It will not tell youOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The amendments, which include proposed delays to some regulations, came amid intense pressure from big tech companies<\/a> and the US government, alongside efforts to make the EU more competitive.<\/p>\n

Separately, Social Democrats TD Sin\u00e9ad Gibney questioned whether the establishment of the AI Office within the Department of Enterprise before it becoming an independent State agency could \u201cinfluence its later development\u201d.<\/p>\n

Jakubowska said she shared Gibney\u2019s concerns, adding: \u201cOne of our key demands for the AI Act implementation across the member states has been for market surveillance authorities to be completely independent. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe think that\u2019s the only way they can guarantee that they can perform their duties.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Artificial intelligence is here … and it is already rewriting the rules of educationOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Generative artificial intelligence tools are a \u201csocietal disaster\u201d and a \u201cmajor threat\u201d to truth and democracy, a Trinity…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":302987,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[220,218,219,61,60,7038,80],"class_list":["post-302986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-irish-politics","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/302987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}