Allegra Spender (Wentworth, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Bruce for moving this important motion. I've just asked ChatGPT to give me a five-minute speech, and it looks like it's covered most of what I've got to say today, but I'm still going to work off what I put together originally.

The changes to technological capability we have become aware of in the last year are nothing short of miraculous. The technological promise of AI is so great that we will doubtless see huge, unexpected changes from its adoption in the years to come. I genuinely believe that AI could be as transformative in this century as the transistor was in the last. The opportunities will be enormous and dispersed across every part of our economy. AI will help farmers maximise crop yields and minimise pesticide use. It will help businesses find their customers and ensure their products are the right fit. Just last week, I met with a radiologist who had started adopting AI tools to help improve the accuracy of their diagnoses. Lives will be saved because of these tools.

There are incredible opportunities for AI to help Australians start their own businesses, supporting entrepreneurship and innovation. That's not least because Australia has very strong data, which is an incredibly important underpinning of AI. It will enable, I think, further growth in the tech sector here in Australia, which already does incredible work and could do so much more to help Australians reach their potential.

But of course this comes with risk. The first that comes to mind is the increasing use of deepfakes, which are getting to the point where they're indistinguishable from genuine content. Seeing is no longer worth believing. I worry about the effect it will have on our society, particularly as malicious actors use deepfakes as a tool of disinformation. We know misinformation and disinformation already pose serious risks to our democracy. AI may supercharge those risks.

A second risk, and one about which many are concerned, is job displacement. AI has mainly been experimental for many people in their jobs rather than the replacement of people by the technology, and there's suddenly the opportunity for AI to really augment individual productivity. But there will be changes to the job market because of AI, and that will affect people in our community.

There are other risks. If you ask one of the commonly available AI systems, such as ChatGPT, about the risks, they flow quickly across your screen: bias and discrimination from systems trained on datasets that contain inbuilt discriminations will amplify and perpetuate those biases, and we've already seen those in how they affect not only women but also minority communities such as LGBTIQ; security and privacy risks, as AI enables surveillance and data collection to increase exponentially; ethical and moral concerns as life-and-death decisions are delegated to AI were lack of transparency and even explainability leaves AI making life-changing decisions that very few of us can comprehend and for which no-one is clearly accountable.

These risks are real, and our understanding of these risks is inadequate. So there is a strong argument for regulatory intervention with AI, and I support the principle of ensuring that Australians are protected from the downsides as much as reasonable.

There is also a danger if we overregulate, if we try and protect ourselves from every possible negative effect of change and end up missing out on the real benefits of reform. This is what we've seen in so many areas of government action. It's why the burden of regulation falls so heavily on business and why we've experienced lacklustre economic productivity and wage growth for the last 15 years. Let's not make the same mistake with AI. Let's get on the front foot and ensure we have a regulatory framework that is fit for purpose.

I very much agree with the member for Bruce on the recommendation that our first responsibility is to get educated, get educated across the parliament and get educated across this country. Let's work with AI users, let's work with businesses, workers, researchers and experts. Let's develop our understanding and develop the regulatory framework at the same time to make sure that it is fit for purpose. By embracing AI with a balanced and proactive approach, we can ensure that businesses realise their potential, drive economic growth and become more competitive in the global market.

Government must foster an environment that encourages innovation, prioritises ethical considerations and invests in essential skills and infrastructure. We need to do everything possible to ensure Australians fully benefit from this incredible technology and what it has to offer but also protect our country, our values and the most vulnerable.

See this speech in context