Why Australia’s new office marks a turning point for AI governance

The Federal Government has announced a new Office of AI within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, alongside plans for a national artificial intelligence framework. An RMIT expert says this stronger oversight of the rapidly evolving technology is a welcome step.

Lisa Given, Distinguished Professor of Information Sciences:

"As technology companies increasingly look to build data centres in Australia, communities have expressed significant concerns about energy and water use, and placement near residential neighbourhoods.

"Australians are also worried about disruption from AI technologies, raising concerns about potential job losses, copyright infringements of material used to train AI models, and data privacy.

"Addressing such varied challenges, particularly when AI technologies are evolving at such a fast pace, warrants the coordinated approach this office will take.

"Given the known risks posed by generative AI technologies like deepfake images that mislead customers or hallucinated content that misinforms chatbot users - Australians need government intervention to protect them from harm.

"The creation of this office marks a significant shift in the government's overall approach to governing AI, towards being more hands-on and proactive.

"In 2024, the government planned to regulate high-risk AI implementation, which was later abandoned. It also proposed - and then paused - digital duty of care legislation, to hold technology companies to account for harmful content and tool designs.

"By creating this office, and reintroducing digital duty of care legislation this year, the government has recognised the need for coordination and intervention to address the varied risks posed by AI, while also supporting its potential benefits."

Lisa Given is a Distinguished Professor of Information Sciences at RMIT University. She is director of RMIT's Centre for Human-AI Information Environments and the Social Change Enabling Impact Platform.

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