AI is a ‘Game-Changer’: Chalmers pitches ‘middle path’ on AI between job losses and $116b productivity gains

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has labelled artificial intelligence a “game-changer” and called on Australia to treat it as “an enabler, not an enemy” as he vows to “find middle path” between productivity and job losses.

Speaking in Canberra on Wednesday, the Treasurer welcomed the Productivity Commission’s AI report which had conservatively estimated AI could add more than $116 billion to Australia’s economy over the next decade.

He declared the issue has been central in his “boardroom blitz” ahead of a three-day productivity roundtable later this month but played down fears of widespread job losses and copyright theft for the arts community and publishers.

Dr Chalmers said the Albanese Government would seek to chart a middle path between the “let it rip crowd” and those wanting to “pull their doona over their head”.

“There’s the ‘let it rip’ crowd. The people who pretend that we can turn back time. Or there’s our approach, which is a sensible middle path, which recognises the big economic upside of artificial intelligence, without forgetting our primary responsibilities for people,” he said.

“Obviously, as a Labor government, as a human being, you don’t want to see people unnecessarily, put out at work.

“I’m optimistic that AI can be a force for good, but I’m also realistic about the risks. It is not beyond us, in my view, to maximise the opportunities of AI while we manage the risks the best that we can, and that’s really consistent with the approach in the PC report released overnight.”

Dr Chalmers also said he hopes to find a middle path on regulation of AI, saying “you can overdo it, you can underdo it when it comes to regulation”.

He said unions were also part of ongoing discussions and the Albanese Government wanted to see workers benefit from AI and not be the victims of technological change.

“Our job is to make sure that people have the skills they need to adapt and adopt this kind of technology. It’s about complementing people’s work, not always just automating it,” he said.

“We can chart a middle course that makes our workers and our people and our industries beneficiaries, not victims, of technological change.”

His AI push came as the Treasurer convened an Investor Roundtable on Wednesday, with around $3 trillion of institutional investors.

It marks one of 41 side summits in specific policy and industry areas ahead of his main roundtable on August 19-21.

“Our goal is to unlock investment, unblock regulation, and unleash more productivity over time,” he said.

“We know that one of our big productivity challenges is not enough capital deepening in our economy, and so this is all part of our efforts to make sure that we can fund and finance and regulate an economy where investment and capital flows more efficiently.”

Dr Chalmers said he’s already received about 900 submissions to feed into his key roundtable.