The implications of AI for cybersecurity are "both vast and inherently unpredictable", the director of the National Cyber Security Centre will tell the Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence.
Richard Browne will address today's committee hearing alongside representatives from the Defence Forces and the Department of Defence.
In his opening address, Mr Browne will tell committee members that threat actors are heavy users of AI tools and that advances in the technology are allowing for "greater automation of attack processes".
"It means that we’re in a race, whether we chose to accept it or not," Mr Browne is expected to say.
"The technical frontier is leaping ahead every week, and the role of managing cyber related risks to society is becoming far more dynamic than we might like," according to his opening statement.
He will also tell the committee that AI is a "revolution" and a "generational change that will affect every other digital technology that has gone before".
Director of Emergency Operations and Infrastructure Oversight in the Department of Defence, Jason Kearney, will tell the committee that the rise of and acceleration of generative AI "has created significant new opportunities while also introducing challenges that are broader and more complex than anything we have previously encountered".
Commander of the Defence Forces Joint Cyber Defence Command Brigadier General Mark Staunton will tell the committee that his unit remains proactive in considering the appropriateness of incorporating AI into military capabilities.
Committee chair Malcolm Byrne said the impact of AI on defence, security and cybersecurity is one of the most critical areas for the committee.
"We know about the risks of cyberattacks emanating from other states, notably Russia, China, and Iran, and by non-state actors already on Ireland," Mr Byrne said.
"If these are AI enabled, there are even greater challenges, particularly given the pace at which the technology is developing," he added.
