AI Regulation in Australia: Where are we at, and where next?

Presented by Professor Kimberlee Weatherall 

The discussion over “regulation of AI” is at an interesting juncture, with Australia in the midst of a Commonwealth-government led process aiming to identify what, if any changes need to be made to our legal and regulatory system to ensure human and societal interests are protected in the race to extend the use of artificial intelligence and related technologies. Among the many interesting questions and challenges being raised in this discussion, two of the most immediate are: what changes do emerging technologies and uses of AI and automation bring that require us to perhaps rethink not the way we regulate these technologies. And the second is: if we are convinced that problems are emerging, how, within the practical constraints of Australia’s parliamentary democracy and regulatory system, do we address them? If we can’t get to perfect, what would be good enough?