Human Resources committee  You talked about how the impact of AI at the moment is not so concrete; it's more theoretical. I think we are at an important point between the theoretical and the realized. In our survey, for example, when we asked workers about the impact on job quality and when we asked employers about the impact on job quantity, we were really asking about what has happened already.

Human Resources committee  In the EU's AI Act, they have chosen to take the approach of essentially looking at high-risk and low-risk AI. The idea is that high-risk AI is the type of AI that will have to go through a specific process, a more burdensome authorization process, whereas low-risk AI can essentially sail through.

Human Resources committee  That is a good question. We talk to firms and workers within the manufacturing and financial industries, so that obviously already steers the conversation towards industries where the use of AI is more prevalent and a bit more mature as well. We talk to firms that are using AI and also those that aren't using AI, so a mix of firms essentially.

Human Resources committee  I was really pleased, hearing some of the other presenters, that there actually seems to be a lot of consensus in what we're seeing. There seems to be a pretty consistent picture emerging in terms of the benefits but also the dangers of AI. Let me get to this question of what policy-makers should be doing.

Human Resources committee  We tend to define AI as a computer system, essentially, that can enable machines or programs to do tasks that would typically require human intelligence. One thing that is complicated in this area is that even AI developers, experts in AI, will actually disagree on what AI is.

Human Resources committee  I think it does have to be defined within the legislation, and, for example, I know the European Union has struggled with this, with exactly how to define it. I think the definition they chose certainly attracted some commentary. I have to say, though, I wouldn't be in a position to advise on exactly how to define AI.

Human Resources committee  I think they generally wouldn't be considered AI, because, typically, they are scanning a bar code. However, I would say that if you were in, for example, an Amazon warehouse and there was a machine, for example, doing a visual scan of a product and identifying that product, that generally would be considered as AI.

Human Resources committee  That's perfect. There is obviously a need for policy-makers to act. In some cases, that can be done through existing legislation—for example, the legislation on discrimination, rights to organize and so on—but, obviously, other countries are developing AI-specific legislation and soft law.

Human Resources committee  Thank you for being so accommodating with the timing. I'm an economist in the future of work unit at the OECD. I'm going to use my five minutes to describe, first, what I think makes AI different from previous technologies; second, what impact AI is already having on the labour market; and third, where policy makers should really be focusing their efforts.