Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday unveiled a national framework for artificial intelligence, saying the technology would play a key role in boosting the country’s productivity, economic resilience and sovereign capability.
Speaking at the University of Sydney, Albanese outlined new AI standards that would require data centres to reduce water consumption and generate or secure their own power supplies, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
He also said AI companies would be prohibited from using Australian books, music, artwork or news content to train their models without the creators’ consent.
The proposed standards will be presented to state premiers and territory chief ministers for approval at a Cabinet meeting next month.
Warning that Australia has a narrow window to set AI’s “social license,” he acknowledged gaps and risks in the currently fragmented approach to the technology.
“Australia has an opportunity to establish AI’s social license before major investments become entrenched, acknowledging the government could not wait until companies had already built data centers before negotiating conditions,” he added.
Albanese assured Australian musicians, writers, and artists that they would maintain control over their work and get to name the price in any copyright deals with AI companies.
His speech, however, did not include cogent announcements related to AI-specific legislation, funding, tax incentives, copyright, consumer rules, or workplace rights, with specific measures expected to come following consultation.
But he confirmed he would seek state and territory agreement for “clear, consistent, and mandatory” data centres at next month’s Cabinet meeting over the new set of standards.
Legislation for these standards would then be brought to parliament early next year.
Currently, South Australia is the only state with a dedicated data centre framework.
The prime minister warned tech companies that while the government would cooperate with sharing factual information, “not everything produced in Australia is up for grabs”.
“No company should use Australian books, music, art, or news to build or train AI without the artist’s control, and that includes the artist’s control of the price and value of their work,” he said.
A new “Office of AI” to sit within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet is being established to coordinate work already underway across education, employment, climate, and energy, copyright and defense portfolios, he maintained.
“We should not treat AI as a threat to good jobs, we must use it as an instrument to help create them,” he observed.
Source: Express Tribune
