OCO Youth Advisory Panel Statement to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on AI

We are here today on behalf of the OCO Youth Advisory Panel and would like to thank the Chairperson and the Committee for inviting us.

We welcome the Committee’s decision to hold a special session on children. We believe that speaking to young people about AI is vital, because AI is already a part of our lives.  We are the group most likely to be impacted by AI but, right now, policies and laws have little or no focus on young people and our rights. We want to ensure children’s voices are listened to and taken seriously as the Government develops its plans in this area in the years ahead. We welcome the recent announcement of Government plans to establish a National AI Office. We feel this provides a perfect opportunity to create a structure within this Office that routinely involves children and young people in decision making related to AI.

Before we begin, we would like to highlight that we have published a report today that sets our the views of our Youth Advisory Panel regarding AI. We will draw from this report throughout today’s opening statement, but would encourage the Committee Members to read our insights and recommendations in further detail after today’s proceedings, so they can hear the voices of every YAP member represented today, not just us two.

We would first like to highlight some of the impacts, both positive and negative, that we believe AI has on our rights as children and young people.

Firstly – our right to education.  Many young people already use AI to help with their schoolwork. It can be a helpful tool when we need to catch up on study, carry out research, or summarize information. On top of that, we also believe that, if used sensibly, AI has the potential to assist teachers too – whether it’s by helping to reduce heavy workloads or by creating efficient ways to monitor student progress.

At the same time, we realize that becoming overly dependent on AI can impact on young people’s ability to think critically, creatively, and independently. If we don’t strike the right balance in schools, we risk neglecting these crucial skills. AI should be used as a tool, not a crutch and not take away our ability to be self-reliant.

When it comes to our right to information, there’s no doubt that AI makes it much easier for young people to access information independently. However, we are well aware that the information AI gives us can often be unreliable, inaccurate, or biased.  All the more reason to continue to develop young people’s ability to think critically and to question sources.

Right now, we are also concerned about the impact of AI on children’s right to be kept safe from harm.  Many Chatbots still do not have the necessary safety features to guarantee that the responses children receive are age appropriate. Children – especially younger ones – risk being exposed to material that is offensive or distressing, or having their personal data stolen and used without their consent. Much more must be done to prevent the use of AI to create fake images of young people that can then be exploited for cyberbullying and even abusive material.

And finally, young people have the right to grow up in a clean and sustainable environment.  With the use of AI expanding, data centres in Ireland require increasing volumes of water and energy.  If we don’t put the environment at the heart of our discussions on AI, we risk going backwards in our efforts to protect our planet for the future and address the climate emergency.

The risks of AI can be exaggerated, and we do not believe that out-and-out bans offer a realistic solution to such a complex issue.  However, there needs to be a balance struck between making sure that AI is accessible for all young people, but also safe.  What we want are AI systems that work for, not against, young people.  To achieve this, we have several recommendations for the Committee.

First, there needs to be proper regulation of AI at both an Irish and EU level: we need laws that make protecting our personal data a priority; AI systems must be designed so that young people accessing them are shielded from harmful content; and our politicians must guarantee that there are genuine consequences for companies that fail in their duty to uphold our rights.

Companies must take seriously their responsibility to keep children safe online: they need to create effective age-verification systems that restrict access to AI tools; children should have the option of blocking AI-generated content they don’t want to see; and everyone under the age of 18 should be clearly notified when they are interacting with an AI tool.

Education that enables young people to understand AI and how to use it responsibly is key.  Young people should be given the skills to be able to tell when something has been AI-generated and to critically analyse AI-generated information; we want to understand what the government is doing to regulate AI; and we need reliable information about the benefits and risks of AI.  Given AI is already part of our lives, this needs to be embedded in the curriculum and all teachers need to be upskilled so that they have the confidence to help guide us in using AI safely.

Finally, we wish to acknowledge that today is an important first step in ensuring that young people’s voices are included in the government’s discussions on AI.  But this cannot be a one-off.  As the government moves forward on this issue, the impact of AI on our rights must be considered each and every step of the way, and the new National AI Office provides an opportunity to continue including children’s views throughout this process. Thank you again, for the opportunity to speak to you here today and we will be happy to answer any questions you might have.

ENDS

Access the YAP report here – OCO AI and Us Young people’s views and understanding of Artificial Intelligence

• 23 September 2025
• Type: Statement
• Topic: Youth Justice