Artificial Intelligence (Scrutiny of Legislation)

– in the Scottish Parliament at on 24 May 2023.

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Photo of Martin Whitfield Martin Whitfield Labour

2. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will propose scheduling parliamentary time to debate the potential role of artificial intelligence in the scrutiny of legislation. (S6O-02269)

Photo of George Adam George Adam Scottish National Party

I a m happy to be able to say to Mr Whitfield that a debate on artificial intelligence is scheduled for Thursday 1 June. That will provide him with an opportunity to contribute his views on the issue. With any use of AI, we would have to ensure that the public, politicians and stakeholders agree and are aware of that and, more importantly, that we do not find ourselves all replaced in some kind of dystopian future.

Photo of Daniel Johnson Daniel Johnson Labour

Who says that we have not already been replaced?

Photo of George Adam George Adam Scottish National Party

I heard that point from Mr Johnson. All joking aside, it is important to note that the Scottish Parliament scrutinises all legislation.

The Deputy Presiding Officer:

I encourage the minister to ignore sedentary interventions from Mr Johnson.

Photo of Martin Whitfield Martin Whitfield Labour

I am very grateful to the minister for his response. I have now discovered the power of lodging a portfolio question to get a debate.

The question of AI is very important. When the First Minister met the Conveners Group earlier today, he said that he was very open to committees asking about better scrutiny of legislation. What has the Scottish Government done to engage with AI in relation to creating and drafting legislation and reaching out to people who might be affected by that legislation?

Photo of George Adam George Adam Scottish National Party

The Government considers it important to ensure that scrutiny remains sufficiently flexible to enable the Parliament to hold the Government to account in an efficient and effective manner. As I said, the public and other partners would need to be agreeable to our approach, so that they would not be surprised by any future use of AI in any shape or form. The technology would also have to be at a level at which we could trust it to deliver for us in a consistent way.

However, I recognise that parliamentary scrutiny should evolve as technology develops. I am therefore interested in hearing more about how AI might play a part in such scrutiny in due course.