Senior public servants to highlight concerns over AI

Senior civil servants will highlight concerns over the use of artificial intelligence in the public service at the annual conference of the Association of Higher Civil and Public Servants (AHCPS).
Delegates will gather in Portlaoise today to discuss a range of motions put forward by the union's more than 4,000 managers across 50 branches in the civil service, and in the commercial and non-commercial State sectors.
Issues to be debated include AI, carers' leave, career progression, and flexible and remote working.
Artificial intelligence
A number of resolutions put forward by delegates will highlight the need for greater management of AI in the workplace and the protection of human decision-making in the public and civil services.
One motion calls for the civil and public service to ensure "that human decision-making and performance assessment are retained as exclusively reserved functions of human actors".
Members will also call for a multi-union approach to AI and for the AHCPS to seek commitments from relevant departments to review the governance structure and, more specifically, the operations of AI within departments that have introduced its operation.
Yesterday, the Government published new guidelines for responsible AI usage by the public sector.
"Like in many workplaces, AI is already playing a positive role in the civil and public sector, but as the technology develops it's critical that there continues to be strong guidelines and guidance in place," said AHCPS General Secretary Ciaran Rohan.
"Not only are there issues of confidentiality, bias and transparency to consider, but we would also have concerns about any reliance on 'algorithms' to inform decision making," he added.
Remote working
The protection of blended working and work from home policies will also be discussed at the AHCPS conference.
Delegates will raise concerns about reductions in blended working and working from home, which is "often driven by ideology rather than information or data".
Members will call on the association to strongly defend blended working practices in the public and civil services.
The conference will also hear that any changes to the Civil Service Blended Working Policy Framework must be subject to full consultation and agreement with civil service unions.

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