MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands present at BOTs and UK Speakers’ conference on using AI in Legislatures

BOT Speakers with Sir Lindsay Hoyle in center second row, and Keith Biles JP from Falklands Legislative Assembly to the right, second row

Hosted by the Speaker of the UK House of Commons, Honorable Sir Lindsay Hoyle, MP, the 4th Commons and Overseas Territories Speakers’ Conference (COTSC) took place in London from May 13 to 16, 2025.

Delegates included Speakers and Clerks from various UK Overseas Territories such as Anguilla, Bermuda, the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, St Helena, and The Virgin Islands. Using Artificial Intelligence in legislatures was the focus of the meeting of Speakers, who conceded that using AI did not come without risks.

Speakers from Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands (BVI), Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, St Helena, and the UK agrred on most aspects of the issue. The expert team from UK House of Commons addressing the conference was made up of the Director of Cyber and Information Security, the Director of Security, and the Director of Strategic Business Resilience.

Hon Tara K Carter, Speaker of Anguilla’s House of Assembly, who led the debate on Artificial Intelligence, joked that her island was the ‘birthplace of AI’ as it had been assigned ‘.ai’ internet address in the 1990s.

While there was ‘a lot of fear and resistance’ to the use of AI in parliamentary proceedings among smaller islands, she said, as a lawyer, AI had reduced her legal drafting and analysis - from three hours to half an hour.

‘If we are AI based, there’s no reason why I can’t have the transcript coming up in real time,’ she added.

Hansard – the Official Record of the UK Parliament – has been experimenting with auto speech recognition.

Judge Karen Ramagge, Speaker of the Gibraltar Parliament, expressed concerns about ‘the reliability of what is being produced. ‘What holds us back in constitutional practice is the fear and responsibility to produce accurate transcripts,’ she said.

Hon Corine N. George-Massicote, Speaker of BVI’s House of Assembly, added her fears about the use of ‘deepfakes’ on social media, where the voice and image of parliamentarians has been manipulated.

‘If you see something on Facebook, it seems very real – the face of a Member; the voice is very close. How do you hold the person responsible or accountable for this?’ she said.

In their communique at the close of the four-day conference, the Speakers agreed to focus on the challenge of transcribing chamber proceedings over the next year, and to share resources, solutions and virtual training ‘to use AI for good’.

During the gathering, COTSC also discussed the role of Speakers during election times, and keeping Parliaments secure and resilient in the face of natural and humanmade disasters.

Delegations were honoured with a special audience at Buckingham Palace with King Charles III, Patron of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA). His majesty engaged the speakers and had short dialogue with them.   

Speakers and Presiding Officers Attending the Conference Included: Rt Hon. Sir Lindsay Hoyle, MP, Speaker of the UK House of Commons; Hon. Tara K. Carter, Speaker of the Anguilla House of Assembly; Hon. Dennis P. Lister, JP, MP, Speaker of the Bermuda House of Assembly;Hon. Corine N. George-Massicote, Speaker of The Virgin Islands House of Assembly; Hon. Keith Biles, JP, Speaker of the Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly; Hon. Karen Ramagge, MP, Speaker of the Gibraltar Parliament; Hon. Marjorie Smith, Speaker of the Montserrat Legislative Assembly and Hon. Cyril Gunnell, Speaker of the St Helena Legislative Council