Albanese Government launches public consultation to ensure ‘appropriate safeguards’ on AI

With AI tipped to dramatically change our daily life, the Albanese Government will launch a public consultation to ensure there are “appropriate safeguards” around the technology.

Australia will move to strengthen artificial intelligence regulation to limit harmful deep fakes, misinformation and bias, as experts warn the super intelligent machines are as likely to cause human “extinction” as a pandemic or nuclear war.

With generative AI tools tipped to dramatically change Australians’ daily life, the Albanese Government will launch a snap eight-week public consultation seeking expert input on how to ensure there are “appropriate safeguards” around the technology.

Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic will on Thursday unveil a consultation paper to canvas the efficacy of existing regulations in Australia and overseas, as well as identify gaps and propose options to strengthen governance around AI.

The dangers posed by the rapidly evolving technology are so severe dozens of technology specialists, including Sam Altman whose firm OpenAI created the ChatGPT bot, have signed a one-line statement calling on global leaders to do more to reduce the “risk of extinction” posed by AI.

Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic. Picture Lachie Millard

The experts said tackling the risks from AI should be “a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war”.

Singapore, the US and the European Union are already considering a wide range of measures from strict regulation to voluntary governance, with Australia yet to decide on a final pathway.

Labor’s consultation paper calls for advice on steps Australia can take to “mitigate the potential risks of AI”.

“Recognising that many related Australian Government initiatives are already underway, we are seeking system wide feedback on actions that can be taken across the economy on AI regulation and governance,” the paper said.

The government will also release a new rapid response information report by the National Science and Technology Council assessing the opportunities and risks of generative AI language tools like ChatGPT.

The report identifies a “major limitation” is the “accuracy and quality of answers generated” as the applications are “only as good as the data they are trained on”.

“In some cases, outputs can be entirely erroneous, or simply misleading – known as ‘hallucination’,” the report said.

There is also the risk of deliberate “misuse” of AI to generate high-quality, cheap and personalised images, video or other content that is “indistinguishable” from the real thing for the average person.

Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic said using AI safely and responsibly was a “balancing act the whole world is grappling with” at the moment.

“The upside is massive, whether it’s fighting superbugs with new AI-developed antibiotics or preventing online fraud,” he said.

“But as I have been saying for many years, there needs to be appropriate safeguards to ensure the ethical use of AI.”

The federal government’s $41m investment in AI was only the “start” of its efforts, he said.