Debate contribution: Artificial Intelligence Strategy
Debate contribution by Mrs Emma Little-Pengelly on .
- MLA
- Mrs Emma Little-Pengelly
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 7 September 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Artificial Intelligence Strategy
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5669767
Read the official Assembly record
Text
It is incredibly important that there is discussion. A huge amount of the understanding of and apprehension about AI is fuelled by what people see. There have been key stories about that even over the summer. You referenced the creative industries: the voices of voice actors have been used without crediting them or giving them remuneration for that but taking that within a system and using it in particular ways. There are a lot of frightening things about AI, but the key thing for government is that we are here to reassure. We will not step back from trying to seize the opportunities from AI, but, as I referenced, we need to make sure in doing so that we have an approach that is ethical and safe and engages the wider public. We do not want only those who are incredibly passionate about and interested in AI to respond; we want to engage absolutely everyone. The future use of AI, even just a couple of years down the line, will really engage absolutely everyone. That is why we need everyone: young people, older people and, of course, people across all industries, not just in technology. There are potentially huge impacts across every job and profession in Northern Ireland.
208 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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