Artificial Intelligence

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (14:58): My question is again to the Attorney-General. I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Attorney-General about something he should be familiar with—artificial intelligence.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: Britain's Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, this week hosted an international summit on the dangers posed to the world and, in a somewhat hysterical, apocalyptic prediction, humanity. Nonetheless, there are real threats which governments must face, including from terrorists, criminal gangs and anarchist actors exploiting the ever-evolving technology for nefarious means. There is a real concern that AI technology could soon be used, if it is not already, to infiltrate sensitive government and defence IT and communications systems. Fears are also mounting for job losses, privacy security and consumer rights.

My question to the Attorney-General is: what are you and the Malinauskas government going to do about regulating or having some oversight over artificial intelligence in this state, or will you just be waiting for the federal government to eventually come up with a plan when something goes wrong?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:00): I thank the honourable member for his question and his interest in all forms of intelligence. I do note that we wouldn't want a situation where artificial intelligence, for instance, took over the roles that we do and we were delivering speeches that were artificial intelligence-generated in this place.

But it is a serious question, and I have listened with interest to media reports on developments from what is happening in the UK and leaders, particularly in the tech world, talking about the future direction of artificial intelligence—where it is headed, some of the things that policymakers like governments and us in this chamber will need to be contemplating in the future.

I am pleased that there is a select committee that has been set up and established in the other chamber. I think Michael Brown, the member for Florey, chairs that committee and is taking submissions and is looking very deeply into issues of artificial intelligence and how it affects society today. I certainly will be keenly reading the report from that committee and looking at how it might influence the policy direction in this state.