Tech experts assess the benefits and pitfalls of artificial intelligence

Three business leaders at the cutting edge of technology in Australia have told a Sydney conference that the benefits of artificial intelligence far outweigh its dangers.

Canva co-founder Cliff Obrecht. Picture: Nic Walker

Design software company Canva could list “in the next couple of years”, co-founder Cliff Obrecht told a Sydney business conference on Tuesday.

He said the Sydney based company, which specialises in design software, was currently finalising a major funding round which was oversubscribed, raising some $US2.4bn ($3.6bn). The sale was initially expected to raise about $US1bn.

And Mr Obrecht told the conference he did not expect the rise of artificial intelligence would undermine Canva’s business model.

He said artificial intelligence could help the company by accelerating the development of work processes which would reduce the cost of creation for its more than 175 million active users. But he rejected suggestions that it could lead to the total disruption of Canva or other major companies such as Microsoft. He said the federal government was keeping a close eye on the development of AI and was working in a constructive way through “issues” related to the technology.

“We’re very much learning (about artificial intelligence) on the fly,” he said. “The Australian government is coming together with industry to put the problems on the table and to put forward solutions which don’t hold us back from being global players in artificial intelligence and being able to ride the next big technology wave, but while hopefully, mitigating some of the real negative risks.”

Meanwhile artificial intelligence company Akin’s chief executive, Lee Yearsley, said “most” big companies in Australia would be “under threat” from the next generation of artificial intelligence, which was “moving to a much more human” level of service.

She said that artificial intelligence could undermine the market power of big companies by playing a more direct role with consumers and helping to shape their decision making.

“We think there’s going to be an emergence of personal AI, almost like a co-pilot, which (helps) work out how to organise dinner or taking care of your next vacation,” she said. “AI is going to decide where you get your coffee from or where you are going to go for your next vacation. It is already happening.”

WiseTech Global co-founder Richard White. Picture: Nic Walker

Ms Yearsley said about 10 per cent of consumer decision making was already being shaped by artificial intelligence. She said there was a danger that AI would be mainly used to sell people more products.

She said the members of the White House Commission on artificial intelligence stood to benefit from the use of AI to sell more goods and services.

WiseTech Global chief executive Richard White said he had used artificial intelligence to create an avatar of himself which he put on the company’s website to explain WiseTech’s profit results. He said the avatar could be used to show him making the same comments in 30 different languages, allowing him to communicate his message to a global audience.

Mr White said companies could use AI to communicate with a broader range of customers as well as staff, particularly those who did not have English as a first language.

“We can make better use of our time by using artificial intelligence to do mundane tasks,” he said.

“There are so many things you can do to build better workflows and business processes with AI than you could have a few years ago.”

While he agreed that there was a dark side to every new technology, Mr White said when it came to artificial intelligence any negatives would be offset by the greater productivity it could offer and how it could also help learning and education.