Speakers debate pros and cons of AI use in Parliaments

However, Speakers from Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands (BVI), Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, St Helena, and the UK, also conceded that using AI did not come without its risks.

Hon Tara K Carter, Speaker of Anguilla’s House of Assembly, who led the debate on Artificial Intelligence, joked that her island was the ‘birthplace of AI’ as it had been assigned ‘.ai’ internet address in the 1990s.

While there was ‘a lot of fear and resistance’ to the use of AI in parliamentary proceedings among smaller islands, she said, as a lawyer, AI had reduced her legal drafting and analysis - from three hours to half an hour.

‘If we are AI based, there’s no reason why I can’t have the transcript coming up in real time,’ she added.

Hansard – the Official Record of the UK Parliament – has been experimenting with auto speech recognition.

Judge Karen Ramagge, Speaker of the Gibraltar Parliament, expressed concerns about ‘the reliability of what is being produced.

‘What holds us back in constitutional practice is the fear and responsibility to produce accurate transcripts,’ she said.

Hon Corine N. George-Massicote, Speaker of BVI’s House of Assembly, added her fears about the use of ‘deepfakes’ on social media, where the voice and image of parliamentarians has been manipulated.

‘If you see something on Facebook, it seems very real – the face of a Member; the voice is very close. How do you hold the person responsible or accountable for this?’ she said.

In their communique at the close of the four-day conference, the Speakers agreed to focus on the challenge of transcribing chamber proceedings over the next year, and to share resources, solutions and virtual training ‘to use AI for good’.

During the gathering, COTSC also discussed the role of Speakers during election times, and keeping Parliaments secure and resilient in the face of natural and humanmade disasters.