Stock images of artificial intelligence apps. [Photo Credit: AAP Image/Jono Searle]
A landmark move to regulate Australia’s AI uptake from the prime minister’s department would just create more bureaucracy, the opposition says.
Anthony Albanese plans to take a leading role managing the nation’s approach to the artificial intelligence revolution, declaring an end to the government’s current case-by-case approach.
In a speech on Wednesday, Mr Albanese will compare AI’s impact on society to that of commercial air travel 100 years ago, promising to establish an AI office within his department after months of pressure from the tech industry and advocates concerned about the rapid shifts in the global economy.
The wide-ranging speech will include rules on where data centres can be built, Labor sources say.
“Getting this right will enhance our appeal to international investors, by delivering greater clarity and speed for approvals, and a streamlined process for verifying compliance,” Mr Albanese will say.
“But just as government developed co-ordinated approaches for other significant technologies: from civil aviation in the 1920s to genetics in the 1990s, we must do this with AI as well.”
Mr Albanese will also point to security concerns around the new technology.
“We know that both extremists and state actors already use AI to create propaganda aimed at young people – and to spread disinformation that targets democracies,” he will say.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said he’d wait to hear the full speech, but was concerned about the government’s approach.
“What’s very clear is (Mr Albanese’s) first reaction is just create more bureaucracy,” he told reporters in Sydney on Wednesday.
“The first reaction should be to make sure Australia is secure, getting access to the very best AI for cyber defence.”
But assistant minister for science, technology and the digital economy Andrew Charlton said the plan would help Australia shape how AI was used and harness its benefits.
“There are many different departments within government that have equities in this space. So the prime minister is bringing national leadership to the issue,” he told ABC Radio National.
Mr Albanese would also outline an “Australian approach” to large data centres, Dr Charlton said.
“We want to learn the lessons from abroad, where so many of those data centres have been rolled out in ways that have damaged local communities, that have sucked up energy, that have impacted local drinking water sources. We don’t want to make those mistakes in Australia,” he said.
Independent MP Allegra Spender said there was significant concern in the community about AI’s impact on privacy and children, arguing the government should have acted sooner.
“It is right that the government is trying to be more on the front foot on AI. Frankly, I wish they had done this earlier,” she told Nine’s Today Show.
Labor MP Ed Husic, a former industry minister, said it was good to see the government finally acting on the risks of AI.
“Sometimes I’m shaking my head … we deliver a faster response to dangerous strawberries as opposed to the dangers of high-risk AI,” he told ABC Radio Sydney, referencing the Morrison government’s attempts to crack down on people placing needles in supermarket strawberries in 2018.
“There’s a range of different areas where AI can pose a risk, and we can’t have a sort of – as I’ve previously said – a whack-a-mole approach,” Mr Husic said.
