How digital capitalism is making government irrelevant
The logic of the internet is leaving government hopelessly stuck in the 20th-century industrial age, trying to respond to the 21st-century digital era.
At the risk of being apocalyptic, it was hard not to be stunned by a 2022 survey that found just under half of artificial intelligence researchers polled thought that once the technology had matured, there was at least a 10 per cent chance it would end in an “extremely bad outcome” such as “human extinction”.
The AI researchers were among the top in their field. In a previous separate survey, most thought that this tipping point – where AI is “able to accomplish every task better and more cheaply than human workers” – would most likely occur within the next 40 years. Some thought it would be much, much sooner.
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Tom Burton has held senior editorial and publishing roles with The Mandarin, The Sydney Morning Herald and as Canberra bureau chief for The Australian Financial Review. He has won three Walkley awards. Connect with Tom on Twitter. Email Tom at tom.burton@afr.com
