In the recent budget day addresses, Minister of Finance Jack Chambers and Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform Paschal Donohoe notably left out any mention of artificial intelligence (AI). This absence may indicate a positive shift. The buzz around generative AI, specifically large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, has created great excitement, leading to a surge in stock market valuations for many tech companies that stand a chance to capitalise on this trend.
However, the fact that much of the LLMs’ commercial model relies heavily on the mass appropriation of intellectual property doesn’t seem to raise many eyebrows, other than those among the relatively powerless creative community. It’s largely overlooked by a vast majority of politicians. Ideally, regulators and investors would increase scrutiny and reconsider investments in light of various litigations; however, this is not a certainty.
So far, there has been minimal evidence of any checks and balances. The EU’s AI Act is regretfully disorganised. In the US, government oversight has been lax, with tech companies successfully opposing any scrutinisation, as seen with the blocked Californian AI safety law, also known as the anti-deepfake bill, under the state governor Gavin Newsom.
Contrastingly, in the UK, upon becoming prime minister one of Keir Starmer’s initial actions was to cancel a £1.3 billion (€1.55 billion) investment in AI outlined by the Conservatives under Rishi Sunak. To compensate, he has since ramped up the rhetoric on AI, in an effort to assert the UK’s technological innovation in comparison to AI-supporting governmental regimes in France and Germany.
Starmer recently stated that London is on the brink of an AI-powered productivity revolution, positioning AI as a prized solution to economic stagnation. The hackneyed term “game-changer” frequently crops up in such discussions.
Given this backdrop, the focus of Budget 2025 predominantly on AIB, not AI, comes as a welcome change. A practical decision was announced in the budget to distribute €1.5 billion through the National Training Fund between now and 2030 to inspire skills advancement across diverse industries.
Undoubtedly, this situation will inherently lean towards AI. However, it’s important to distinguish between identifying the necessity for skill enhancement and the complacent belief that generative AI, backed by major tech firms, provides a simple solution for all.