Australia has a big opportunity to develop artificial intelligence, but the technology could have major economic ramifications if firms and governments don’t adapt, a billionaire entrepreneur has warned.
Scott Farquhar, the co-founder of tech giant Atlassian, said Australia was on the edge of a “great industrial revolution” with AI in a speech to the National Press Club on Wednesday.
He said taking advantage of existing AI infrastructure could contribute up to $115 billion per year to Australia’s economy by 2030.
It comes as the government prepares to host an economic roundtable in August, where development of AI to enhance productivity is on its agenda.
“The scoreboard of the AI era is blank,” Mr Farquhar said.
“The race is still on, and Australia has everything to play for.”
Mr Farquhar said the place to kickstart Australia’s productivity with AI was in data centres.
Data centres are massive facilities that process data from cloud servers, with complex operations serving millions of customers.
Mr Farquhar said Australia’s strategic location near southeast Asia, as well as having lots of land, could lead the country to become a world leader in AI storage.
He called for the government to change copyright laws to give exceptions for text and data mining to boost AI’s capacity.
The US and Europe have exceptions for text and data mining, which means AI can learn and make informed decisions when tasked to complete an action effectively.
“There’s huge opportunities for people that are great at what they do, at creating content to sell in a totally new way,” Mr Farquhar said.
Atlassian cut 150 jobs on Wednesday, saying that they were going to be replaced by AI.
When asked about the impact of AI taking away jobs, Mr Farquhar said it was inevitable.
He compared the arrival of AI to the introduction of electric trains following the era of steam locomotives, noting while people at the time were concerned they would lose jobs, it advanced the country in the long run.
Mr Farquhar added big businesses needed to increase its part in contributing to AI’s research and development in Australia, with small firms and technology companies leading the way.
“The amount we spend is an early canary into how productive and innovative we are going to be in the next decade or two,” Mr Farquhar said.
“Big businesses in Australia are falling behind their (research and development) investments.”
Australian Council of Trade Unions president Michele O’Neil said improving productivity was important, but not at the expense of AI taking jobs.