Grim figure sparks warning on future Aussie jobs

Australia has been urged to fund a $1bn national AI initiative as a new report exposes a grim future for workers.

Up to 46 per cent of jobs in Australia could be replaced by artificial intelligence by the end of the decade, according to leading AI experts.

A new report published on Thursday has said Australia needs an additional 100,000 digitally skilled workers over the next year to prepare for between 25 and 46 per cent of existing jobs to be automated by 2030.

Leading AI experts have urged the government to immediately invest $1bn into research and development to seize on a time they call a “make or break.”

“Our moment to seize the day for driving responsible AI has arrived here in Australia, and globally, and we need to make sure we don’t miss that train,” said CEO Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering Kylie Walker.

Australia is currently facing a shortage of university graduates urgently needed to fill AI jobs. Picture: Damian Shaw/NCA NewsWire.

“Australia has the expertise, we’ve got the industry, we’ve got the stability and we’ve got the governance importantly in place to lead AI development globally because AI does impact everybody [..]. It’s fundamental to realising the full potential and mitigating the risks of this technology.”

Currently, only about 7,000 students in Australia are graduating from university with the skills needed to fill the country’s AI workforce.

Recruiting 93,000 students in just one year will require a “coordinated, national investment bringing universities and industries together through a national AI initiative,” experts said.

A recent global economics research report from Goldman Sachs forecast that 300 million jobs will be impacted by a wave of AI development that has spawned platforms like ChatGPT. Accountants, customer service representatives, taxi and truck drivers, retail workers and mail delivery workers are among the top jobs most likely to be automated in some form in next decade.

“As employees, we’re facing AI tools in the workplace increasingly. AI services are integrated into CRM, accounting and HR tools, and increasingly generative AI tools are being used in the workplace,” Director of the CSIRO’s National AI Centre Stela Solar said.

Ms Solar said Australia could become a global force in embracing the capabilities of AI.

“It is already all around us in day-to-day [..] one of the most familiar ones is our mobile phones. A lot of you know that unlocking your phone - whether it be with facial recognition, thumbprint, voice - all of that is being powered by AI technologies.”

Experts said Australia is falling far behind other countries in its investment towards AI development and education. According to their report, only 752 AI projects have been funded in Australia over the past two decades, totalling about $323m in investment.

By comparison, the US allocated $1.7 bn into AI research outside defence programs in 2023 alone.

“The time is now for Australia to lean into safe and responsible AI,” Ms Solar said

Originally published as Grim figure sparks warning on future Aussie jobs