Industry and Science Minister Ed Husik is expected to announce the appointments on Wednesday morning, nearly a month after the publication of the government’s Safe and Responsible AI interim report, which called for the creation of an expert advisory group.
However, the group is temporary and the role will be filled by appointees until the end of June while the government considers long-term arrangements.
Experts who will be part of the task force include Professor Bronwyn Fox, CSIRO’s Chief Scientist, who has contributed to international AI research, Angus Lang, Senior Adviser, and Principal Researcher at the University’s AI Research Institute. This includes Professor Toby Walsh from UNSW.
The task force will be required to identify and define high-risk uses of artificial intelligence technologies in Australia and consider restrictions on their introduction.
The group will also investigate labeling frameworks when AI is used, such as watermarking images, and how to increase transparency about AI models and the data sources they use.
Professor Walsh said it was vital that guidelines for the use of AI be considered, as the world had never seen technology penetrate “so rapidly into our lives”.
“One of the unique challenges that AI poses is the speed of its development and deployment,” he said.
“This makes installing guardrails difficult and important.”
Professor Fox said Australia was already using generative AI in a variety of sectors, including cybersecurity and healthcare, and rules would be needed to ensure its safe use.
“Our challenge, and what this expert committee is carefully considering, is to not only understand the many benefits that AI brings to Australia, but also to ensure that AI is within responsible guardrails, ethical principles and governance structures. ”, she said.
The government’s interim report recommends mandatory rules for the use of AI in environments where it is “difficult to recover”, including mandatory testing, public transparency and certification processes. may be included.
Husick said the group has the diverse skills needed to accomplish the mission.
“It is essential that the sophisticated models that underpin high-risk AI systems are transparent and well-tested,” he said.
“We are confident that this group, with its legal, ethical and technology expertise, can strike the right balance.”
Since the release of ChatGPT in late 2022, the use of generative AI has boomed, but it also poses challenges for lawmakers around the world.
Research from the Technology Council of Australia calls it “one of the most innovative technologies of our time” and predicts its use could have an economic impact of up to $115 billion a year by 2030. I am.
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