The Australian Government has dropped the ball on AI regulation. So, as a leader, it’s your responsibility to create appropriate rules and guidelines for safe, ethical, and responsible AI use in your team and organisation. That includes privacy, confidentiality, bias, governance, and how people use AI in everyday work.
As a leader, are you doing enough to look at the ethical, safe and responsible use of AI in your team and your organisation?
This is a hot topic right now because the Australian Government has dropped the ball on AI.
Anthony Albanese recently announced a new strategy for regulating AI. And we DO need to regulate it – including things like (to name just a few):
- Privacy
- Confidentiality
- Discrimination in the workplace
- Surveillance
- Gender bias
- Transparency
- Accountability in decision-making
- Risk management
- Safety-critical decisions
- Testing obligations
- First Nations rights
- Data governance
- Data sovereignty
- Human oversight
- Contestability
- Frontier-model risk
But are we going to do any of that? Nope. Our national AI strategy is all about … data centres.
Don’t get me wrong – this IS an important topic, and one that directly affects our communities. But even in this area, the government is doing the wrong thing. Albanese SAYS it’s “in Australia’s interests”, but his explicitly stated goal is to “enhance our appeal to international investors, by delivering greater clarity and speed for approvals”. I’m not making this up – that’s an exact quote from the Prime Minister’s website.
Whatever you think about data centres (and there’s both valid information and misinformation out there), many local communities in Australia, in cities and regional areas, are concerned about data centres popping up in their communities. And it’s happening without their consent, sometimes without their knowledge until it’s too late, and probably without any positive economic impact in return.
What does all this mean for you as a leader in your team, organisation, or community?
First, of course, as a local resident yourself, this affects YOU. So learn more about what that means for you and your community.
For your team, business, or organisation, the big problem is this policy neglects the real issues with AI regulation – things like privacy, confidentiality, data sovereignty, and the other things I mentioned earlier.
We should be regulating the tech bros, big AI companies, and AI startups selling their systems in Australia. If we’re forced to trust AI, at least we need strong rules protecting our rights.
That’s what the government SHOULD be doing.
But it isn’t.
That means the responsibility falls on you.
When you’re using AI in your organisation, it’s up to you to consider, discuss, and ask the tough questions – especially when you’re talking to AI vendors and suppliers.
Make sure you protect your customers, your employees, your brand, and yourself.
Our government has abdicated that responsibility. So it’s up to us.
If you’d like to know more about this, come along to my free public online presentation, where we’ll explore how to take AI to the next level. Register here, and feel free to invite others from your team and your network as well.
Oh, and also learn a bit more about what our government is doing – or isn’t doing – about AI.
