Professor David Hickton, Founding Director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute for Cyber Law, Policy and Security, Pitt Cyber, appeared before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence on 6 October to discuss the impact of AI on cyber resilience, public trust and society.
Professor Hickton served as United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania from 2010 to 2016, after being appointed by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the US Senate. During his time in office, he led major cybercrime cases involving state-sponsored actors and transnational cybercrime, including the first criminal indictments of identified members of China’s People’s Liberation Army for hacking US companies to steal intellectual property.
Now Founding Director of Pitt Cyber and a Visiting Professor in Trinity College Dublin’s School of Law, Professor Hickton has developed an ongoing collaboration with the Research Ireland ADAPT Centre at Trinity focused on the safe and ethical use of AI. His work in Ireland also connects with the Trinity Centre for Digital Security and Societal Resilience and the national Cyber Citizens initiative.
Speaking to Committee members, Professor Hickton drew on his experience in cybercrime, election security, disinformation, AI and technology governance to highlight the need to prepare people and institutions for the challenges created by rapidly developing AI.
His evidence focused on three areas: protecting vulnerable people from increasingly sophisticated AI-enabled fraud; addressing the risk of a widening divide in AI skills and access; and preparing for disruption in the workforce. Across each, he argued that resilience depends not simply on technology, but on whether citizens, communities and institutions have the knowledge and capacity to anticipate and respond to change.
Full opening statement here: AI Oireachtas Committee Opening Statement David Hickton
The engagement formed part of Cyber Citizens, a national initiative led by the UCD Centre for Cyber Resilience Education in partnership with ADAPT at Trinity, Oide Technology in Education, Webwise and Pitt Cyber, with support from the Research Ireland Discover Programme.
Professor Hickton co-leads Cyber Smart for Public Leadership, the strand of Cyber Citizens focused specifically on elected representatives and public officials and on responsible AI, cyber resilience and digital trust. The wider initiative also includes Cyber Sense, which works with schools, families and libraries.
Cyber Citizens forms part of a wider programme of work through the Trinity Centre for Digital Security and Societal Resilience, bringing together research and expertise across technology, law, governance and society.
Concluding his evidence, Professor Hickton said Ireland had an opportunity, including through its Presidency of the Council of the European Union, to learn from international experience and address emerging harms before they become entrenched. He also offered to continue sharing insights from Cyber Citizens and the wider transatlantic collaboration with the Committee as the work develops. AI Oireachtas Committee Opening…
Watch the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence session.
Supporting material here: AI Oireachtas Committee Supporting Briefing Material David Hickton
