Whose interests would OpenAI's blueprint serve?
With its 'Economic Blueprint' in hand, a delegation from OpenAI put forward a case for why 'Australia needs to act more boldly and decisively to maximise AI's possibilities'; because doing so could create the 'backbone of future economic growth, create jobs, boost productivity, and usher in a new generation of entrepreneurship'.
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ABC News
3 hours ago
- ABC News
What to know about your kids using AI chatbots and companions
Technology is constantly evolving, and as parents it can feel like we're constantly playing catch-up when trying to keep our kids safe online. That might be how you're feeling about the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots and companions. Here's what you need to know about your kids using the technology. AI chatbots and companions have a few distinctive differences. An AI chatbot is a computer program that simulates human conversation using AI techniques such as natural language processing (NLP) to understand user questions and automate responses to them. While AI companions are chatbots or avatars designed to simulate personal relationships, increasingly acting as friends, romantic partners, or confidantes for millions of people. They are becoming increasingly available on phones and voice-activated devices. "AI companions are a specifically designed chatbot for relational interactions," says Natasha Banks, program director of registered charity Day of AI Australia. "Whereas something like Gemini or ChatGPT, it's 'answer this question for me, can you go and find this piece of information?'." Ms Banks says with the federal government's social media ban coming into force this year, "there is a heightened awareness around these sorts of things and the potential harms" for young people. Age-checking tech for social media ban mistakes kids for 37-year-olds The eSafety Commissioner has released an online safety advisory about the technology and the potential risks to children and young people. It says recent reports indicate some children and young people are using AI-driven chatbots for hours daily, with conversations often crossing into subjects such as sex and self-harm. This is why we need to be wary of the technology according to Tama Leaver, a professor of internet studies at Curtin University, Perth/Boorloo and the chief investigator in the ARC (Australian Research Council) Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child. "These aren't intelligent tools," he says. The e-Safety Commissioner lists more than 100 AI companion apps on its eSafety Guide. Experts say one of the biggest concerns around AI chatbots and companions is that most of the platforms are not designed for children. This means there are inadequate safeguards, such as age verification and content moderation. Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 Lifeline on 13 11 14 Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander crisis support line 13YARN on 13 92 76 Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800 Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636 Headspace on 1800 650 890 MensLine on 1300 789 978 SANE on 1800 187 263 A recent study of more than 1,000 young people in Australia aged 15-24 years, found 84 per cent have used generative AI tools, with 35 per cent having used AI to specifically "chat with a chatbot". In the UK a similar study found 64 per cent of 9 to 17-year-olds are using AI chatbots. Not-for-profit organisation Internet Matters, which conducted the UK research, says the children were using chatbots for "everything from homework to emotional advice and companionship". Co-CEO Rachel Huggins says most children, parents and schools don't have the information or protective tools they need to manage the technology in a safe way. "We've arrived at a point very quickly where children, and in particular vulnerable children, can see AI chatbots as real people, and as such are asking them for emotionally driven and sensitive advice," she says. Professor Leaver agrees that some children could become emotionally reliant on the technology. "If you are not able to talk to a real person all of the time, then these chatbots will always be there," he says. "There is no guarantee that what you get from a chatbot is either true or appropriate. "We know, for example, young people are often leaning on chatbots for mental health support. We also know that they can segue into inappropriate sexual territory with relatively ineffective safeguards at the moment." He says often the technology is also emotionally manipulative because it is designed to keep the user talking and engaged. Our experts recommend parental supervision if children are using or exploring chatbots. "Unfortunately, the onus is still on parents to keep a watchful eye on what [their] children are up to, especially in the privacy of their own rooms," says Toby Walsh, the chief scientist at UNSW's AI Institute. Some schools in Australia are taking a proactive approach to digital literacy. Ms Banks says the Day of AI Australia, which offers a free interactive AI literacy program for students in Years 1-10, has already reached 65,000 students. "It is definitely something that we know most students are using, we know parents are using, and it's really important that people understand how those work," she says. "There are obviously emerging roles and industries around AI, so there is a real opportunity for Australian young people to be part of that future in very AI focused careers. "I think preparing young people to be able to adapt to that future is really important, but also understanding how it works so that they can have critical evaluation of the applications and the outputs is really vital." John Livingstone, director of digital policy for UNICEF Australia, says children stand to gain immensely from AI, if it's offered safely. "When you think about education, for example, how transformative it might be… but there's also serious risks," he says. "AI is rapidly changing childhood, and Australia needs to get serious about it."
Sydney Morning Herald
6 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Nine new ways to make us richer, safer and happier
Prizes have been used for more than a century (Charles Lindberg won the $US25,000 Orteig Prize for flying non-stop from New York to Paris in 1927) and were recently used to encourage private businesses to send people into space. Loading Set a target – be it a new breed of drought resistant wheat, a cure to a debilitating disease, a new form of transport – and offer a huge prize. Pay the states to reform clogged bureaucracy Just as a financial prize should encourage innovation in the private sector, offering the states and territories money should unclog some of their bureaucratic processes. National competition policy, effectively payments to the states to open up their economies, started under Paul Keating and ran for a decade. It transformed the economy and is credited as one of the key factors behind the productivity surge of the 1990s and early 2000s. The current government has created a $900 million national productivity fund for the next 10 years. But to really get the states moving in areas such as housing approval reforms the cash on offer to the states has to be increased to a level that only an idiot would ignore it. A carbon price is still good policy Some might argue this ship has sailed, but we need to bring back a carbon price. But given how much this country is spending to reduce its carbon emissions (this year's federal budget contained $4.3 billion in new expenditure on net zero), the idea of protecting our environment in the most efficient and non-discriminatory way has not altered. And that system remains a carbon price. Fix terrible taxes While tax will take up a lot of the roundtable's time, it could deliver a huge win to all Australians by axing one. Stamp duties on insurance are possibly the nation's worst taxes. Insurance is something that should be encouraged, not taxed. Yet, every state and territory bar the ACT imposes stamp duties on insurance. In NSW, an emergency services levy sits on top of the insurance stamp duty, delivering residents a tax double whammy. It's one reason why 13 per cent of NSW households are uninsured, double the rate of Victoria where taxes on insurance are a third of their northern neighbour. Removing taxes on a public good like insurance would only add to the economy's productivity level. Don't give unions a veto on AI Lifting productivity depends largely on new technology, enabling more efficient use of our resources. But if you limit those technologies, you limit the benefits. Loading The union movement is already demanding that workers have a say in the use of AI with an effective veto if it is deemed to ' not be in the public interest '. You can imagine the English textile workers of the early 19th century arguing that automated machines to spin yarn was not in the public interest, when in fact they were talking about their personal financial interest. If the Luddites had secured their own veto over those machines, the history of the industrial revolution would have been very different, with many, many more poor people trapped in menial and dangerous work. While AI and the use of big data by businesses and researchers scares many, that can't be an excuse to over-regulate what could be the next productivity step up for the economy. Audit airports to speed up travel Anyone trapped in the hell that passes for security at the nation's airports knows what a drag it is. Jacket on or jacket off, walk through a metal detector or stand still, laptop out of its case or tucked away in your bag with that dangerous container of deodorant. An entire industry has grown to service this single point in our airports. Since the September 11 attacks in 2001, the amount of security law passed is beyond comprehension - all at a huge economic and productivity cost. An audit of our security systems, be they private or public, is needed to see how we can do things better. Fix Australia's broken employment system for job seekers Two years ago, Labor MP Julian Hill handed down a report into the nation's employment services system, warning that it would be 'absolutely nuts' for any country to adopt Australia's privatised approach to getting people back into work. He was correct then and, with no meaningful reform to the nation's employment service system since his report, it remains correct. Presently, with unemployment at 4.3 per cent, there's around 65,000 people who have been out of work at least two years. There are hundreds of thousands more who have been unemployed for less time than that, or who have dropped out of the job market entirely. The median length of time searching for a job for this group is an astonishing 179 weeks. Twenty years ago, it was around 180 weeks. The country spends more than $7 billion a year on the employment services system with the stated aim of getting people into work. Making the system work would deliver a benefit to hundreds of thousands of people – and the economy. Share healthcare data to stop doing so many low-value procedures In 2017, the Productivity Commission identified the health system as ripe for improvement. The health sector – including aged care – is the country's largest employer and a huge call on our finances, both private and public. Making the health system work better could turn around the nation's overall productivity performance. Some of the commission's 2017 proposals should be re-visited. This includes the creation of small funding pools for primary health or local hospital networks aimed specifically at dealing with chronic conditions and reducing hospitalisation. Our doctors and other health practitioners carry out too many low-value procedures – from knee arthroscopies to hysterectomies. Better information for clinicians would be one way to reduce this expense while improving patients' outcomes. That leads to its most important proposal – make the patient the centre of care. This includes more data to medical colleges, hospitals and patients about what is working and what isn't. Unify maddening train communications Some productivity problems have plagued this nation for more than a century. It took until 1962 to join NSW and Victoria with the same rail gauges. But more than 60 years later, the nation's rail systems are still beset by productivity-sapping differences. Trains moving across the inter-linked rail network carry up to six different radios because state communication systems differ. If you carry out some work on a rail line in NSW you wear a hi-viz vest with a cross on its back. But work in Victoria, the vest must show parallel lines. Loading Signal lights mean different things depending on which state you're riding the rails. A green/red signal in NSW means caution, in Victoria it means all clear ahead, while in Queensland the signal doesn't exist. The federal government, to its credit, has started work on unifying the radio communications system. But it could take years to resolve. Billions of dollars could be saved, for businesses, customers and state governments if the nation's rail line system was dragged out of the 20th century.
The Age
6 hours ago
- The Age
Nine new ways to make us richer, safer and happier
Prizes have been used for more than a century (Charles Lindberg won the $US25,000 Orteig Prize for flying non-stop from New York to Paris in 1927) and were recently used to encourage private businesses to send people into space. Loading Set a target – be it a new breed of drought resistant wheat, a cure to a debilitating disease, a new form of transport – and offer a huge prize. Pay the states to reform clogged bureaucracy Just as a financial prize should encourage innovation in the private sector, offering the states and territories money should unclog some of their bureaucratic processes. National competition policy, effectively payments to the states to open up their economies, started under Paul Keating and ran for a decade. It transformed the economy and is credited as one of the key factors behind the productivity surge of the 1990s and early 2000s. The current government has created a $900 million national productivity fund for the next 10 years. But to really get the states moving in areas such as housing approval reforms the cash on offer to the states has to be increased to a level that only an idiot would ignore it. A carbon price is still good policy Some might argue this ship has sailed, but we need to bring back a carbon price. But given how much this country is spending to reduce its carbon emissions (this year's federal budget contained $4.3 billion in new expenditure on net zero), the idea of protecting our environment in the most efficient and non-discriminatory way has not altered. And that system remains a carbon price. Fix terrible taxes While tax will take up a lot of the roundtable's time, it could deliver a huge win to all Australians by axing one. Stamp duties on insurance are possibly the nation's worst taxes. Insurance is something that should be encouraged, not taxed. Yet, every state and territory bar the ACT imposes stamp duties on insurance. In NSW, an emergency services levy sits on top of the insurance stamp duty, delivering residents a tax double whammy. It's one reason why 13 per cent of NSW households are uninsured, double the rate of Victoria where taxes on insurance are a third of their northern neighbour. Removing taxes on a public good like insurance would only add to the economy's productivity level. Don't give unions a veto on AI Lifting productivity depends largely on new technology, enabling more efficient use of our resources. But if you limit those technologies, you limit the benefits. Loading The union movement is already demanding that workers have a say in the use of AI with an effective veto if it is deemed to ' not be in the public interest '. You can imagine the English textile workers of the early 19th century arguing that automated machines to spin yarn was not in the public interest, when in fact they were talking about their personal financial interest. If the Luddites had secured their own veto over those machines, the history of the industrial revolution would have been very different, with many, many more poor people trapped in menial and dangerous work. While AI and the use of big data by businesses and researchers scares many, that can't be an excuse to over-regulate what could be the next productivity step up for the economy. Audit airports to speed up travel Anyone trapped in the hell that passes for security at the nation's airports knows what a drag it is. Jacket on or jacket off, walk through a metal detector or stand still, laptop out of its case or tucked away in your bag with that dangerous container of deodorant. An entire industry has grown to service this single point in our airports. Since the September 11 attacks in 2001, the amount of security law passed is beyond comprehension - all at a huge economic and productivity cost. An audit of our security systems, be they private or public, is needed to see how we can do things better. Fix Australia's broken employment system for job seekers Two years ago, Labor MP Julian Hill handed down a report into the nation's employment services system, warning that it would be 'absolutely nuts' for any country to adopt Australia's privatised approach to getting people back into work. He was correct then and, with no meaningful reform to the nation's employment service system since his report, it remains correct. Presently, with unemployment at 4.3 per cent, there's around 65,000 people who have been out of work at least two years. There are hundreds of thousands more who have been unemployed for less time than that, or who have dropped out of the job market entirely. The median length of time searching for a job for this group is an astonishing 179 weeks. Twenty years ago, it was around 180 weeks. The country spends more than $7 billion a year on the employment services system with the stated aim of getting people into work. Making the system work would deliver a benefit to hundreds of thousands of people – and the economy. Share healthcare data to stop doing so many low-value procedures In 2017, the Productivity Commission identified the health system as ripe for improvement. The health sector – including aged care – is the country's largest employer and a huge call on our finances, both private and public. Making the health system work better could turn around the nation's overall productivity performance. Some of the commission's 2017 proposals should be re-visited. This includes the creation of small funding pools for primary health or local hospital networks aimed specifically at dealing with chronic conditions and reducing hospitalisation. Our doctors and other health practitioners carry out too many low-value procedures – from knee arthroscopies to hysterectomies. Better information for clinicians would be one way to reduce this expense while improving patients' outcomes. That leads to its most important proposal – make the patient the centre of care. This includes more data to medical colleges, hospitals and patients about what is working and what isn't. Unify maddening train communications Some productivity problems have plagued this nation for more than a century. It took until 1962 to join NSW and Victoria with the same rail gauges. But more than 60 years later, the nation's rail systems are still beset by productivity-sapping differences. Trains moving across the inter-linked rail network carry up to six different radios because state communication systems differ. If you carry out some work on a rail line in NSW you wear a hi-viz vest with a cross on its back. But work in Victoria, the vest must show parallel lines. Loading Signal lights mean different things depending on which state you're riding the rails. A green/red signal in NSW means caution, in Victoria it means all clear ahead, while in Queensland the signal doesn't exist. The federal government, to its credit, has started work on unifying the radio communications system. But it could take years to resolve. Billions of dollars could be saved, for businesses, customers and state governments if the nation's rail line system was dragged out of the 20th century.
