MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE

Ms WATSON-BROWN (Ryan) (15:39): Thank you very much to the member for Curtin for bringing this very important MPI to this House for debate. This week, experts sounded the alarm: AI poses existential risks to our society, and governments must slow it down. Tech leaders themselves are calling for urgent action, asking governments to regulate artificial intelligence because of its potentially catastrophic risks to humanity.

It sounds dramatic, but these are the stakes of a powerful new technology running rampant with no safeguards. This is a lesson we should have learned already from our experience with social media. The government was asleep at the wheel when it became widespread and is playing catch up right now trying to regulate it.

We have the opportunity to avoid making the same mistake with AI, and we cannot miss it again. The government has been painfully slow to act on this. Could it be intentional?

Cosying up to the tech bros saying Australia is 'open for business'. This is clearly out of touch with ordinary people who are rightly sceptical of these big American tech companies. People know AI is a threat to their jobs, especially for young people looking for entry-level positions.

People know AI is imposing data centres on their communities, pushing up power prices and polluting the environment. People know AI is using their data to build sophisticated models on all of us with no transparency and no accountability. People understand the risks of AI, so why is the government so slow out of the blocks and so out of touch?

Please wake up, PM, and regulate AI before it's too late. What are the risks of AI? Firstly, there is valid concern about data centres—something that I've discussed in this place before.

Data centres—big, ugly warehouses—are pushing up power prices and polluting your community, coming to a neighbourhood near you whether you like it or not. AI data centres are springing up across Australia. They use vast amounts of land and water and emit sound and light that disrupts people and wildlife.

And speaking as a former architect, they're pretty monstrous things to impose on our landscapes and neighbourhoods. Mr Littleproud interjecting— Ms WATSON-BROWN: Maybe not in Dalby, you reckon? Why is this happening?

Tech billionaires are expanding their AI experiment and need new data centres to hold all the valuable, sensitive information they collect on us. Why Australia? Well, our government has rolled out the red carpet and welcomed the tech bros in at the small cost of our energy prices spiking, our waterways being polluted and our wildlife being uprooted.

You have to ask: why does the government want so badly to welcome AI? It won't boost our economy. It'll take away jobs, and no-one wants these data centres in the first place.

Is it just FOMO? The government has a non-binding set of expectations for data centres, but they might as well be written in pencil on tissue paper. They say they'll produce national standards but not until 2027.

It's very unfortunate they've dragged their feet for so long, allowing Australia to become a dumping ground for these data centres. Big tech has seen our lack of regulation as an opportunity to profit, and the government has let them do it. Until proper standards are written into law, the government should place a pause on approving any new data centres.

That's what the Australian community rightly expects. The second, more fundamental, concern about AI's rapid development is the existential threat that it poses and the lack of consultation, transparency or accountability. Artificial intelligence has transformed every aspect of our society and our lives.

But who is this for and when were Australians consulted? AI's impact on jobs could be disastrous, especially for young people seeking entry level roles or in sectors such as the arts. When Australians are working longer and longer hours for less and less pay, while computers are creating art, our society is making a big mistake.

AI could also deeply hurt education. I speak to many young people, including those at the University of Queensland in my electorate. Even students are concerned about AI's role in education.

They don't want to spend thousands in HECS fees, and rack up those debts, only for AI to take over the thinking and the learning—not to mention the risks posed by deepfakes to our society, our politics, our national security and to truth itself— The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Claydon ): The member for Maribyrnong has the call.