Artificial intelligence is here. AI leaders say the jobs summit must confront the coming ‘tidal wave’ of change
Earlier this week an artificial intelligence-powered rapper was dropped from its label (yes, it had a label) after its algorithm learned to use racial slurs in its lyrics.
More usefully, a recent AI trial at Queensland’s Princess Alexandra Hospital was able to give early warnings as much as eight hours before a patient’s condition was predicted to decline.
Artificial technology is about to send a “tidal wave” of disruption through the way we work, according to a once-in-a-decade forecast by CSIRO, the national science agency.
The federal government is being urged to use the upcoming national jobs summit to “double down” on policies set by the former government to ride that tidal wave, or risk being rode over.
AI technology is forecast to replace as much as half of the work that is done today by 2030.
According to the head of CSIRO’s Data 61 Institute, Jon Whittle, you are likely already interacting with artificial intelligence all the time — you just may not realise it.
He pointed to “simple” AI like Google maps and voice assistants, but also robotics in mining and warehousing, or AI that detects breast cancer from mammograms.
“We still sometimes talk about AI as if it is a futuristic technology but it’s not, it’s actually here now. We all use it every day,” Professor Whittle said.
A 2019 McKinsey & Co report on automation in Australia laid out just how quickly industries are set to change.
The authors said by 2030 as many as 5 million Australians may need to change their occupation because of automation, with WA’s East Pilbara, Penrith in western Sydney, Mackay in Queensland, West Coast in Tasmania and Port Pirie north of Adelaide among the most exposed local government areas.
Even work that was widely thought to be immune to automation, particularly creative and emotional industries, is quickly proving to be just as exposed.
Just in the last year, AI systems DALL·E and Midjourney have exploded onto the visual arts scene, using massive data sources to generate convincing images in seconds, and sending a ripple of disquiet through arts and entertainment professions.
But Professor Whittle said he was not fearful these rapidly emerging technologies could spell the end for workers.
“Even things like DALL·E I don’t necessarily see as replacing human creativity but rather augmenting human creativity,” he said.
“A good example of this is that somebody used DALL·E to generate the front cover for Cosmopolitan magazine recently, and it sounds a great story right, the first magazine auto-generated by a machine.
“But if you look at what was actually done, there was over 100 hours of a human being involved in interacting with DALL·E to ensure the outputs being produced matched the style of the magazine and the creative licence of the magazine.”
Still, he said automation would change the nature of work — and that will need to be carefully managed.
CSIRO’s Data 61 institute co-designed an AI road map with the federal government last year that identified environmental health and infrastructure AIs as technologies Australia is well placed to take the lead on.
The research group’s chief executive, Professor Whittle, said the jobs summit was a chance to “double down on that”.
“All of these things are opportunities for the country. I wouldn’t say we should sit back and take our time,” he said.
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Andrew McKellar said the government needed to coordinate the change.
