AI wave hits Queensland: Cairns businesses urged to keep up

AI experts have told Cairns business owners to wake up or get left behind, but one leader warned the technology could just as easily destroy a company.

JCU AI director Ian Watkinson warned the new technology can be a double-edged sword. Picture: Paul Furse, Frontrow Foto.

AI experts have warned Cairns business owners to “wake up or get left behind”, but one leader warned the technology could just as easily destroy a company.

Local businesses received a crash course in how to outsource tasks like customer service, planning and content creation to AI immediately at practically no cost during Tuesday’s Cairns Chamber of Commerce luncheon.

James Cook University’s AI director, Professor Ian Atkinson, said the technology provided immense efficiency gains for businesses, but warned without scrutiny it could brand businesses as sexist, racist or worse.

“Almost all of us in our pocket with an app have a sort of nuclear weapon and it’s a tool that could be used for tremendous good or the outcomes could be rather less,” Professor Atkinson said.

“Microsoft’s Tay is a classic example. It was set up as a Twitter bot and it was meant to interact with people but after 12 hours on the internet it had turned into neo-Nazi propaganda.

“We need to encourage innovation, but reduce harm.”

Since 2021, Queensland businesses have been early adopters of AI technology, with more ventures utilising the tool every month.

Data from the Department of Industry, Science and Resources showed that across the hospitality, retail, health and education sectors, which are some of Cairns largest employers, AI adoption across regional Queensland has grown from 20 per cent in June 2024 to 48 per cent in June 2025.

Adoption rates of AI across health and education, retail and hospitality sectors in regional Queensland.

Chipmunk Media CEO and guest speaker Lisa Monk said that the IT revolution had well and truly started.

“Australia is lagging behind the rest of the world, but it will catch up,” Ms Monk said.

“Customer support roles, junior associates...consulting firms, writer, editors and content creators, all of those are pretty much replaceable right now, because AI is so advanced it can do all of those jobs.

“It’s so important as business leaders, whether it’s you or your team, you try and get your head around how fast this technology is innovating and how you can use it in your business.”

A major threat to small and medium-sized businesses is how AI has changed the way people search the internet.

Reliance on AI models as search engines has reduced internet traffic by an estimated 15 to 20 per cent in recent years, making it harder for smaller businesses to appear.

Ms Monk warned that for businesses to survive, they need to immediately change their online content to be built around simple, clear and prompt-friendly Q and A style content that will be picked up by programs like ChatGPT.

“If your website relies on Google search to get there, you’re in trouble,” Ms Monk said.

“When people go to ChatGPT and say, ‘Where’s the best seafood restaurant in Cairns?’, you want your restaurant to be sitting at the top.

“You need to ask and answer a question as if it was somebody conversationally talking to you.”

Lisa Monk warned Cairns business owners that behaviour changes in how people use search engines could prove catastrophic. Picture: Paul Furse, Frontrow Fotoe

Despite appearing autonomous, AI programs do not think and are a statistical best guess system based on human-fed data.

Professor Atkinson wanted people to approach AI with curiosity, but warned that in a business capacity, owners were responsible for whatever the programs spit out.

“People need to know you’re using it and they need to be able to contest those decisions,” she said.

“Trust is your guardrail. AI amplifies everything.

“Even good AI can do bad things, so transparency is your cure.”

Originally published as AI wave hits Queensland: Cairns businesses urged to keep up