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Irish Examiner
14 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Software engineers and customer service agents will be first to lose jobs to AI, Oireachtas to hear
Software engineers, junior lawyers, and customer service roles will be among the first in Ireland to be affected by job losses to artificial intelligence, experts on the AI Advisory Council predict. Members of the council, made up of 15 independent experts who advise the Government on Ireland's AI strategy, appeared before the Oireachtas AI Committee on Tuesday. It heard the even moderate workforce reductions could collectively lead to "noticeable increases" in unemployment. "We cannot predict the exact pace, scale, or whether new jobs will replace those lost," AI Advisory Council chairwoman Patricia Scanlon said. When asked if he could predict what would be the first jobs to be hit in Ireland, council member and Jentic founder and CEO Sean Blanchfield said he believed it would be in software engineering, 'ironically enough'. 'Naturally enough, people in my industry are taking this technology and applying it to the first market they know, which is themselves.' 'That's real, and that's current." Entry level programming jobs are largely being replaced by AI now, he added. Certainly, among the leading companies. The job of the software engineers has moved up to more software 'architect'. I think if you speak to lawyers, you find the same things happening in law firms. Those are two obvious examples. The quality of AI technology is improving 'month after month', he added. 'Palpably. We can see it in our own company.' "These are intense, information-work jobs. If it's possible to automate the work of a software developer or a junior lawyer, you can automate a lot of things. ' Customer service would be another example of this, he added. Professor Deirdre Ahern, member of the AI council and professor in law at Trinity College Dublin, cautioned that cuts to junior roles due to AI could have further impacts. 'We mightn't have as many but we still need people who are able to interrogate outputs, etc. It's not that the jobs are gone, but it's just maybe there may be less of them.' Fine Gael TD Keira Keogh said it was interesting to hear members of the council say we can't predict the next five years. Five years ago, when we were talking about AI and robots, we didn't predict it was going to be the highly educated engineers that would be losing jobs first. Bronagh Riordan of EY, who chairs CeADAR, Ireland's national AI centre, added there is another side to this, as AI also free up time through automation. One example of this is healthcare, she said. 'You can automate repetitive tasks, and you can free up more of the time for healthcare experts to help our society.' Ms Scanlon told the committee Ireland is at a 'critical juncture' when it comes to AI. 'The choices we make now determine whether we shape this future or are shaped by it.' She also called for an 'AI Observatory', a national system tracking real-time impacts on jobs and skills as they happen. "Without it, we're navigating tomorrow's changes with yesterday's map."
Irish Times
20 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Times
AI ‘could significantly increase unemployment' Oireachtas committee told
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) may lead to job losses which could 'significantly increase unemployment' an Oireachtas committee was told on Tuesday, with experts warning that entry-level software engineering and legal roles are among the first sectors hit by AI job displacements. The chair of the AI Advisory Council, Patricia Scanlon said in her opening remarks to the Join Committee on Artificial Intelligence that AI has begun to perform roles previously occupied by humans which she said could lead to job losses. 'Even moderate job losses across multiple sectors could significantly increase unemployment,' she said, 'but we can't predict the pace or scale of this, or if lost jobs will be replaced.' Ms Scanlon called for plans to be developed for 'multiple eventualities' noting it is not possible to make long term predictions on the impact on the technology. READ MORE 'We need to ensure our tax base can fund ... if there are displacements and there are not replacement jobs,' she said. Asked which industries would see the first job losses as a result of AI, Sean Blanchfield, the chief executive of AI start up, Jentic and a member of the AI Advisory Council, warned that software roles are first in the firing line. 'Ironically enough, it will be the software engineers,' he said, noting that entry-level programming jobs are 'largely replaced by AI now, certainly among the leading companies.' He said that some software engineering roles have evolved into software architecture roles, with a similar shift taking place in entry-level legal roles. Customer service and jobs in the creative sector were also pointed out as roles that would be likely to be replaced in the sector. Trinity College Dublin professor in law, Deirdre Ahern, another member of the AI advisory council noted that human roles would still need to be present in the industries to 'interrogate the outputs' but that the number of roles would reduced and have a different focus. Ms Scanlon said the Government needs to put in place an AI Observatory to monitor the real time impacts of AI on jobs and skills 'as they happen' noting the State 'cannot be reactive' to the impacts of the new technology. 'There is an uncertain future,' Ms Scanlon said under questioning from Sinead Gibney, TD, 'One of the issues could very well be around the quality of work, even if there are new jobs or people are transitioning [to them], is it much like the gig workers where there is a lower quality of employment?'
The Journal
a day ago
- Business
- The Journal
Calls for Government to set up watchdog to monitor job losses due to Artificial Intelligence
THE AI ADVISORY Council is appealing to Government to set up a watchdog to monitor potential job losses that result from artificial intelligence. Chair of the Council, Dr Patricia Scanlon will appear before the Oireachtas Artificial Intelligence (AI) committee today to update TDs and Senators on the organisation's work. In her opening statement, seen by The Journal , Scanlon warns that AI performing tasks previously done by humans could lead to job losses in Ireland. 'We cannot predict the pace or scale, or if lost jobs will be replaced,' Scanlon wrote in her opening statement. 'We cannot be reactive. Ireland needs an AI Observatory, a national system tracking real-time impacts on jobs and skills as they happen. Without it we're navigating tomorrow's changes with yesterday's map.' Advertisement Scanlon also tells Oireachtas members that two distinct sets of risks must be balanced in relation to AI. The first set relates to risks around AI's risks to society, including bias, privacy erosion, job displacement , misinformation, threats to fairness, safety, human dignity, and the impacts on the creative sector and intellectual property. The second set of risks relates to not acting to use AI to human advantage. These, Scanlon tells the committee, relate to hindering innovation, weakening Ireland's competitiveness, losing investment and talent, missing benefits in healthcare and education, and becoming 'rule-takers' in AI governance. 'Conversations about AI have become unnecessarily polarised between embracing or rejecting it. Instead, we need evidence-based thinking about uncertain outcomes, preparing for both anticipated scenarios and unexpected possibilities,' Scanlon wrote. According to the AI Advisory Council, an AI Observatory would allow the Government to better communicate the impact of AI on different sectors as they occur, while also helping policy makers, workers and educators navigate the changes ahead. The Oireachtas AI Committee was established this year. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
