Equipping parliaments for the AI era

Context

Artificial intelligence is already being used in legislative research, drafting, translation, transcription, petitions analysis, and citizen engagement. Yet, meaningful and responsible adoption requires skills before systems: members and staff must be equipped to understand how AI works, interpret outputs critically, manage data ethically, and establish governance routines that ensure transparency, accountability, and trust.

Developing this literacy means more than knowing the tools, it involves building confidence, critical thinking, and institutional learning pathways that enable parliaments to adapt to evolving technologies while upholding democratic values and human rights.petitions analysis, and citizen engagement. Yet, meaningful and responsible adoption requires skills before systems: members and staff must be equipped to understand how AI works, interpret outputs critically, manage data ethically, and establish governance routines that ensure transparency, accountability, and trust.

Description

This module will focus on strengthening the capacities of parliaments to engage effectively with AI. As AI becomes embedded in daily life, parliaments require practical skills to understand, evaluate and apply these tools responsibly. Without such capacity, the risk grows that parliaments fall behind the pace of technological change. Through panel discussions, the module will emphasize the importance of building AI literacy across all levels of parliament and discuss safeguards for the responsible usage of AI in parliaments. Participants will work through practical patterns, what to ask vendors, how to document models and datasets, what to publish for transparency, and when to pause or escalate.

Organization

09:30 – 11:00. What does it take for a parliament to be AI-ready?

• Poll:
  - Write one word that describes how you feel about AI in your parliamentary work?
  - How confident do you feel in understanding and using AI in your parliamentary work?

• Panel discussion. Guiding questions:

  • What is “AI literacy” and why does it matter for legislators and staff?

  • What essential skills should MPs and staff acquire to engage with AI responsibly?

  • How can parliaments organize ongoing training and learning opportunities?

  • How can international partners, and/or tech companies, support parliamentary AI learning ecosystems?

11:00 - 11:15 - Coffee break

11:15 -13:00: Equipping Parliaments for the AI Era

• Group work: 

  • Step 1- Warm-up:  Prompt: “Name one way you already use AI in your personal or professional life.

  • Step 2- AI literacy. What do MPs and staff need to know now about AI?

  • Step 3 - Keeping Pace. How can parliaments sustain AI literacy over time?

• Discussion of results, reflections and conclusions