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Dan Moskovitz

The Robots Are Coming For Your Parliament

DAN MOSKOVITZ (HE/HIM)

 

The inaccuracy of AI detection tools is obvious. It’s obvious to students, it’s obvious to Vic (who doesn't use them), and it’s even obvious to our Parliament’s select committees. So, much like at Vic, if you write a submission to one of them, you won’t be checked by an AI-detector. 


Select committees are groups of MPs who review proposed laws and recommend adjustments. They’re required to consider submissions made by the public, so anyone can write to or speak in front of a select committee regarding a proposed act.


And unlike Vic, select committee submissions don’t use Turnitin, said Parliament’s Clerk Dr David Wilson. 

What is a parliamentary Clerk? Basically, Dr Wilson’s role involves advising the procedures of Parliament and running the team which makes Parliament tick. And according to him, there are no rules against using AI to submit. In fact, there are pretty much no hoops to jump through. 


“We're pretty liberal about who can make submissions and who can petition Parliament,” says Wilson. “Anyone of any age can. We don't verify their identity.” 


Parliament has no requirement for a human to write a submission. The written submissions will usually indicate who gets chosen to speak to the committee, and each committee has experts in the subject matter. So if an AI-generated (or human-generated) submission is inaccurate, they just won’t be chosen to speak before the committee. 


It’s also worth noting how AI isn’t necessarily all bad news; there are opportunities, too. AI could allow those who don’t excel in writing the chance to submit. 


And while someone nefarious could use AI to generate thousands of supposedly different submissions, Parliament could use AI right back to reduce the workload elsewhere.


“There are no more MPs, budget, or staff,” says Wilson. “So if we receive hundreds of  thousands more submissions, things will slow down. AI could make that difference, but it could also help us manage it.


“At the moment, people look at every submission before categorizing, sorting, and choosing who will appear before the committees. In the future maybe AI could do that initial sorting and categorization much faster, alongside other repetitive tasks which people don’t enjoy but have to happen.” 


This still remains an entirely hypothetical discussion for the moment, but Wilson says it is a discussion happening between Aotearoa’s Parliament and other overseas parliaments, meaning NZ should have examples to work off of if it moves in this area.


Still, Wilson is aware Parliament is coming against its budget. As an entity independent from government, Parliament successfully dodged any funding cuts, which puts it in an envious position compared to most of the public sector. 


But the flip side of the coin is that Parliament’s budget has been static for some time even while its workload is continuously increasing. 


“We’re in a constrained financial position,” says Dr Wilson. “Everyone is. So one of the imperatives for us is going to be finding ways of doing our work more efficiently. AI is one possibility.” 











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