A summit designed to help increase awareness of the capabilities and risks of artificial intelligence in the Hunter business community will be held in Newcastle this month.
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Business Hunter chief executive Bob Hawes said some businesses felt unprepared for the arrival of AI and were concerned they could be exposed to risk.
"Open-source AI platforms such as Chat GPT have brought AI into the mainstream this year, and the reaction from the business community has been mixed," he said.
"Some have embraced it as a time-saving device for drafting first rounds of copy, others have imposed blanket organisational bans due to data security fears."
Titled AI -Friend or Foe, the summit will feature presentations from the Australian Human Rights Commissioner and the Australian Government-funded National AI Centre and media personality Adam Spencer.
Brad Woollett, chief executive of Newcastle-based IT consultancy Definiti, will be among those who will present at the summit.
The company, which focuses on business process automation, creates software robots that replicate the keyboard strokes and the mouse clicks of a human.
The technology has been applied to help significantly accelerate the processing of flood relief claims and Covid screening results.
"At the start of Covid it took two weeks to process results. That has been reduced to 48 hours. It's a great example of how AI can be used for good," Mr Woollett said.
"We've got a skill shortage in our economy. These solutions remove the repetitive and the mundane activities and allow knowledge workers to skill up and deliver higher value.That's the benefits that we see."
Mr Woollett said he expected the uptake of AI to increase exponentially in the next decade.
"There is cautious optimism around its potential. We want to make sure that governance keeps up with these platforms and solutions," he said.
"We hear about all of the fantastic stuff that it can do, but we need to tread carefully."
Business Hunter, has welcomed the Australian Government's responsible AI consultation papers as an opportunity to address growing anxiety and risk in the business sector.
Mr Hawes said the discussion papers would begin a dialogue aimed at ensuring appropriate safeguards were in place.
"We created road rules, driver training and licenses with the invention of cars. We've unleashed AI to the masses with no regulation or guidance, and for the business community in particular, there are huge challenges in ensuring the growth of AI technologies are safe,responsible and transparent," he said.
"While AI has enormous social and economic benefits for all Australians, and we're seeing direct examples of this through our members, there are challenges to overcome, a chief one being the threat of workers and businesses being left behind," said Mr Hawes.
This week saw the arrival of an open letter warning of the risk of human extinction from OpenAI, featuring signatures from high-profile executives in the US.
It follows a call earlier this year from Elon Musk to place a six-month pause in AI models.
Mr Hawes said these types of apocalyptic visions of AI could be metered by useful policy discussion.
"Drawing on our experiences of crossing multiple other technology thresholds in recent decades, such as computers, the internet, email, and mobile phones, a broad range of emotive and practical responses is to be expected, and as a community, we need to sort out the facts from fiction," Mr Hawes said.
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Matthew Kelly
Matthew Kelly has worked as a journalist for more than 25 years. He has been working as a general reporter at the Newcastle Herald since 2018. In recent years he has reported on subjects including environment, energy, water security, manufacturing and higher education. He has previously covered issues including the health and environmental impacts of uncovered coal wagons in the Hunter Valley, the pollution of legacy of former industrial sites and freedom of information issues.
Matthew Kelly has worked as a journalist for more than 25 years. He has been working as a general reporter at the Newcastle Herald since 2018. In recent years he has reported on subjects including environment, energy, water security, manufacturing and higher education. He has previously covered issues including the health and environmental impacts of uncovered coal wagons in the Hunter Valley, the pollution of legacy of former industrial sites and freedom of information issues.
