Business is calling for standardised artificial intelligence education from primary school to universities among a raft of recommendations to position Australia as a global leader in the AI space.
Business Council of Australia Chief Executive Bran Black said the group’s Accelerating Australia’s AI Agenda report presented a phased plan to unlock the potential of AI to boost innovation, lift living standards and address Australia’s decades-long productivity stagnation.
“AI is our next big lever for economic growth and a significant opportunity to boost Australian living standards,” Mr Black said.
“If we get this right, AI can deliver a significant productivity boost and that means higher real wages and more opportunities for more Australians.”
He said the report highlighted AI’s capacity to reverse the national productivity decline by helping people work smarter.
“From intelligent logistics and streamlined services to freeing up healthcare workers from repetitive tasks, AI can eliminate bottlenecks and amplify each individual’s capabilities.”
Mr Black said the report’s key recommendations included:
- Implementing clear, practical and risk-based AI regulations that encouraged innovation.
- Simplifying data centre approvals to speed up infrastructure build.
- Establishing a national AI Research Consortium where businesses and universities co-operated to pursue foundational, pre-competitive AI research.
- Adding standardised AI courses in every level of education from primary, to secondary and tertiary.
- Expanding support for the National AI Centre to assist small and medium businesses identify and deploy AI tools that improved operational efficiency.
- Establishing the Australian AI Safety Institute to focus on technical AI safety, international cooperation and standardised best practice.
- Investing in AI research and development to position Australia as a trusted hub for AI, while also improving Australia’s research data and computing resources so AI could speed up scientific discovery in all fields.
- Creating better and more secure data sharing frameworks to allow more AI innovation across the private and public sectors.
He said without immediate action, Australia risked falling behind competitor nations that were racing ahead in AI capability and adoption.
“The choices we make now will determine whether we gain a competitive edge or fall behind,” Mr Black said.
“We need to be training more AI specialists, data scientists and engineers, while also educating the entire workforce on how we can improve the day-to-day work experience.”
Read the full report: Accelerating Australia’s AI Agenda.
