Author: Dr Matthew McKenna, Editor IdeasInALL and Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute member
Research Beacon: Society and Public Policy – Social and Economic Transformations
In December 2025, the Ideas in ALL Blog celebrated twenty-five years since the ratification of the Charter of Fundamental Rights (CFR) of the European Union (EU) in our annual end of year symposium. We discussed ongoing efforts to promote the values of human dignity, freedom, equality and solidarity, and explored the augmentation of fundamental rights through a growing body of case law from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) which, being central to interpretation of EU law, plays a key role in determining the lawfulness of actions by the EU or its Member States. These values capture the spirit and purpose behind the multidisciplinary work of the Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute which seeks to promote social inclusion and person-centred integration of technologies to empower people and enhance their quality of life, irrespective of age or disability. Certainly, present day phenomena across the world underscore the paramount necessity and importance of the collaborative research taking place in ALL. Indeed, the early to mid-2020s have witnessed an unprecedented level of global change and social upheaval, as shown by a major pandemic, the proliferation of international conflicts, and surging authoritarianism and populism across the world, exposing many apparent vulnerabilities in democratic systems and institutions.
While many of these patterns have been part of the human experience throughout history, the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has not. In fact, over the last few weeks, we have heard a growing chorus from the CEOs of major AI companies warning us of the immense dangers of this technology, with some even leaving their roles in apparent protest over what they effectively describe as uncharted and exponential development that is now measured in months, not years. To this end, some warn that there even may be a ten percent chance of human extinction within a decade if unregulated growth of AI is allowed to continue at breakneck pace. A growing number of leading voices in the AI industry are calling for uniform slowdown of advancement to ensure that humanity retains control over new AI systems and mitigate the chances of unforeseen catastrophe resulting from unanticipated actions by AI models acting under their own initiative. At the same time, while a significant number of detractors consider this to be extremely unlikely, decrying cautionary doomsday predictions as a publicity stunt designed to consolidate a wavering market around an image of tremendously capable AI amidst growing fears of an ‘AI bubble’ collapse, it is hard to ignore the immense potential of this new technology to be used for exceptional good, or to inflict extraordinary harm, in our time.
Some of the logical principles underpinning modern symbolic approaches to AI can arguably trace their intellectual roots back to antiquity. Greek Philosopher, Aristotle, pioneered ‘syllogistic logic’ which used logical argumentation to make sense of abstract concepts or arrive at new knowledge through deductive reasoning in philosophical debate based on two existing hypotheses. This evolved over millennia into modern formal logic and informs symbolic approaches to AI through which conclusions are derived from existing knowledge by way of deductive inference. Moreover, Talos, the bronze giant who guarded Crete, is often cited as an ancient precursor to the idea of a robot, and Hephaestus was said to create self-moving servants and mechanical beings. More recently, English Mathematician and Computer Scientist, Alan Turing, published a landmark paper in 1950 titled ‘Computing Machinery and Intelligence’ in which he explores whether machines can think, as well as their definitional ambiguity and that of thought. Since then, AI has made a deep and indelible impression on the popular consciousness through literature and media, where it appears in countless instances as a murderous enemy of humanity, or as its ally and guardian, or as both. Nonetheless, for decades, and up until only a few years ago, AI was considered as something that was safely confined to the realms of science fiction and fans of that genre. Aside from its impact on popular culture, AI remained far removed from the public consciousness in a tangible day-to-day sense; seemingly locked away in experimental environments where a limited number of experts in the field made incremental progress towards an ever-distant goal. However, that perception was dramatically upended during the early to mid-2020s, with AI breaking loose from the realms of science fiction and rapidly establishing a permanent and widening presence at the forefront of daily life, ushering in an era of irreversible and historically unparalleled transformation for humanity.
Invoking the oft-used metaphor of the Sword of Damocles, United Nations Secretary General António Guterres declared in July 2023 in his remarks to the Security Council on Artificial Intelligence that, among other things, “Generative AI has enormous potential for good and evil at scale. Its creators themselves have warned that much bigger, potentially catastrophic and existential risks lie ahead. Without action to address these risks, we are derelict in our responsibilities to present and future generations.” In the three years since then, the number of AI types and applications has greatly increased, and the intelligence and spectrum of capabilities behind each iteration of generative AI continues to undergo exponential growth. In a brief space of time, news cycles have become replete with examples of AI misuse by individuals and states to exert control, monitor the online habits of others, spread false news and misinformation through generated videos and images, fight wars and replace human ingenuity and creativity, therein visibly threatening a potential dismantlement of fundamental rights and democratic freedoms. In addition to these risks, AI has shown that, in the absence of proper regulatory safeguards and in situations where it goes ‘rogue’, something that appears to be occurring with alarming frequency, it can cause very serious harm to people, institutions, financial systems and societies at large.
In a short space of time, AI is now almost ubiquitous on our smartphones and computers, and it can communicate with an ever-increasing range of connected devices in our homes and environments. This, alongside the rapid emergence of AI-enabled smart glasses, has given rise to serious concerns over privacy, surveillance and personal safety. Last week, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office published an article focusing on the risks surrounding smart glasses and AI-enabled wearables, while also acknowledging the potential accessibility benefits such devices can provide for persons with disabilities. Notably, AI continues to advance at an accelerating rate, with cutting edge AI models doubling in power approximately every four months. Despite this, the degree to which generative AI can be truly creative is subject to intense debate. What is clear, however, is that it is hugely derivative, being trained by a vast array of existing data to which it has access online, or else on that which is provided directly to it. As a consequence, AI frequently acts as an echo chamber for human prejudices and can intensify the effects of preexisting discriminatory practices, discourses, laws and depictions in society. Vulnerable groups and minorities are particularly exposed, especially where persons with disabilities, older people or recipients of care may experience loss of autonomy, increased monitoring akin to surveillance that violates privacy, lack of clarity over their personal data use, removal of human contact, or the potential dynamics of a controlling AI presence where a rights-based model fails in its practical implementation.
Moreover, AI can frequently assume that users are familiar with it and, as older people and persons with disabilities are often underrepresented in datasets and consultations surrounding the development, design and delivery of physical technologies, software applications and AI, it risks the adoption of discriminatory assumptions and approaches to those with a disability or in later life from the very outset. Prejudices of this kind can be replicated along the lines of gender, disability, race, wealth, social class, religion, employment and sexual orientation among others. The dangers of reproducing and exacerbating existing social injustices and intolerances, combined with low levels of transparency and concerning international flows of data where present systems risk manipulation, distortion and exploitation by malign actors motivated by extreme ideology or authoritarian ambitions, underscore the importance of the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) 2024.
AI has rapidly come to represent another point of contention in the alarming transatlantic schism between the United States and the EU, where diametrically opposing visions for the future of AI, being intrinsically linked to human rights and democratic freedoms, are deepening a growing rift in the western world while providing an opening for hostile actors to exploit. Meanwhile, the US, particularly under the incumbent administration, pushes for the deregulation of AI and related technology sectors. Additionally, it increasingly leverages punitive economic and political measures of coercion against the EU for attempting to create a governance structure for AI that restricts its power to cause harm or curtail and undermine fundamental rights. Conversely, the AI Act seeks to support safe and trustworthy AI systems while protecting health, safety, democracy, rule of law, the environment and fundamental rights. Article 77 of the AI Act requires Member States to identify public authorities or bodies to supervise and implement these obligations under EU law to protect fundamental rights and non-discrimination, particularly with regard to ‘high-risk’ AI systems. The AI Act was subsequently transposed into Irish law through the Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Act 2026 which entered into force last month, establishing the AI Office Ireland as an independent statutory body and central coordinating authority for the implementation of the AI Act in Ireland. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) is also designated as a fundamental rights authority under Article 77 of the AI Act.
As such, in keeping with ALL’s mission to support and implement cutting edge scholarly research on the development of person-centred systems and technologies to advance social inclusion, human rights and quality of life for all people across the life course, it is time to reflect on the importance of the multidisciplinary work taking place within ALL amidst the emergence of ubiquitous AI. ALL’s mission statement aligns with the principles set forth in the Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI presented by the European Commission’s High-Level Expert Group on AI in 2019, which called for AI systems to have human agency and oversight, transparency, respect for fundamental rights, privacy, non-discrimination, accountability, and protection of societal and environmental wellbeing among others. Indeed, while these provisions predate the AI Act itself, they comprise a fundamental precondition for the continued existence and protection of human rights in the age of AI. The work of ALL is at the forefront of this contest and, in an increasingly uncertain world where human rights face innumerable threats which overlap intrinsically with the emergence of AI, it is more important than ever to draw attention to the value of our research for the protection of people, their freedoms, wellbeing and dignity, and the environment, in a future where AI and humanity must coexist side by side. To quote a popular sci-fi franchise which warns of the dangers of AI, “The future is not set. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves”.
