Anthony Albanese took a trip back in time during his much anticipated speech on artificial intelligence on Wednesday.
Seeking to harness the momentous change bearing down on our lives, the prime minister told an audience at the University of Sydney that his government would keep pace with AI, even seeking to “get out in front” of the technological tidal wave.
He likened the moment to when, as a newly minted graduate, he was employed as a Commonwealth Bank clerk, charged with convincing customers to ditch paper passbooks for a keycard and a “hole in the wall”.
Such is the force of change being driven by AI, Labor MPs have been hearing for months from anxious constituents, business and trade unions that it was past time for the government to get involved. Datacentre developments are already roiling local communities around the country.
Albanese said he would work with state premiers on new rules to carefully manage planning controls for the massive facilities, ensuring they don’t take up land needed for housing and don’t dominate local energy systems. Operators will be required to pay for new water infrastructure needed to cool the facilities and surging demand won’t be allowed to push up household bills.
After a meeting of national cabinet next month and the creation of a new office for AI within his department, Albanese will push parliament to consider new legislation in early 2027.
He declared the country must be more than just a “data warehouse for AI products made overseas” and should benefit from Australian innovations. He promised new standards and speedier decision making to help foster the social licence he believes AI so badly needs.
The approach is vintage Albanese. He believes a cautious and methodical approach has delivered better policy for Labor, even while critics accuse him of being timid and too slow.
Ahead of Albanese’s speech, the former Labor minister Ed Husic, who had argued for a broad new AI act before being dumped from cabinet, warned the legal approach to AI looked like Swiss cheese. Labor, he said, must not simply deliver a “fancier cheeseboard”, urging a comprehensive response.
after newsletter promotion
But the reality is Australia won’t be able to direct much of the activity of global tech giants like Anthropic, Microsoft, Google or OpenAI.
The challenges of regulating social media, stopping hate speech or curbing child sexual abuse images show these firms are more powerful than most national governments and can set terms, and prices, for countries like Australia.
On the public’s fear of widespread job losses, Labor might be similarly hamstrung. The potential of a general use technology like AI will be pervasive across modern life. Governments simply…
Source link
Disclaimer
We strive to uphold the highest ethical standards in all of our reporting and coverage. We blogs.grocliq.com want to be transparent with our readers about any potential conflicts of interest that may arise in our work. It’s possible that some of the investors we feature may have connections to other businesses, including competitors or companies we write about. However, we want to assure our readers that this will not have any impact on the integrity or impartiality of our reporting. We are committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news and information to our audience, and we will continue to uphold our ethics and principles in all of our work. Thank you for your trust and support.
Website Upgradation is going on for any glitch kindly connect at [email protected]
