One question facing business on the double-bind of AI and data
If Australian enterprises become dependent on foreign-controlled systems trained on Australian intelligence, we create an enormous strategic vulnerability.
At the recent Economic Reform Roundtable, there was clear consensus that AI must become a national priority - to ensure our efficiency, competitiveness and to protect Australia’s economic resilience. But the real question is how we maintain our competitive edge when other countries are spending billions on AI dominance.
The AI systems everyone’s talking about – ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and their competitors – are built on ‘foundation models’. Unlike narrow AI that does one thing well, these foundational models are massive, multi-purpose AI systems that are trained by swallowing the whole internet and can handle text, images, code, and analysis. They are hugely powerful systems and can be turned to a range of specialised tasks.
