For many Australians, artificial intelligence is already disrupting their work.
Among them is voice actor Colin Cassidy. Colin Cassidy said he had cloned his voice without his consent after building his career for decades.
“It’s like a very stressful redundancy from a mental health perspective,” he said.
“But it’s deeper because it’s your biometric data, it’s deeper, it’s part of you.”
Cassidy estimated that booking numbers had dropped by 30% due to AI.
He said the narration industry, already hit hard by cloning, is a “coal mine canary.”
“AI is here to stay here. It will continue to be developed and work with more audio. This is a tragedy.”
Colin Cassidy hopes the government will advance certain AI laws. (ABC News: Berge Breiland))
The full scope of future unemployment from AI is unknown, but the World Economic Forum expects that at least 9 million jobs could be displaced globally, and the nature of the work could also change dramatically.
However, this week’s report from Jobs and Skills Australia highlights the importance of having the right digital and AI skills for the modern labor market, where AI is more likely to enhance human work than it replaces it.
Wide impact
Modeling by Nonprofit Organizations Last year, Social Policy Group discovered that adoption of AI could disrupt a third of Australia’s workforce by 2030.
Impacted industries include agriculture, mining, manufacturing, retail, communications and real estate services, as AI streamlines operations, automates tasks, and enables data-driven decision-making.
Australian companies are already embracing AI by automating technologies such as forklifts, irrigation systems, and retail and supermarket checkout systems.
In manufacturing, robots are increasingly helping with tasks such as assembly, packaging, and distribution.
AI also lists real estate, screens tenants, manages real estate leases, and conducts document reviews and legal investigations. This is a task that is usually performed by paralegals and junior lawyers.
But these disruptions could potentially increase productivity by $116 billion in Australia’s economy, according to estimates from the Productivity Committee.
Professor Nicholas Davis is co-director of the Institute of Human Technology at Sydney Institute of Technology, whose research focuses on the ethical and responsible use of AI.
He said that potential unemployment from AI falls into two categories.
“One category is where your work is relatively repetitive and routine and therefore has tasks that are understood and can be accomplished by digital systems,” Professor Davis said.
“The second is people who do things that are relatively complex and valuable, but we’re seeing certain AI applications come out now, like voice cloning.”
Davis said the more diverse the work of workers, the better protection from AI.
“The more interactive, human face-to-face, public face-to-face activities, the less you’re likely to worry at this stage,” he said.
Productivity potential
Ahead of the federal government’s productivity roundtable next week, the Productivity Commission warned that overregulation could curb the multi-billion dollar economic potential of AI.
At the time, treasurer Jim Chalmers welcomed the report, calling AI a “game changer” for the Australian economy.
“We can chart an interim course that creates workers, our people and industry beneficiaries rather than victims of technological change,” he said.
Skills and Training Minister Andrew Giles said the government is focused on Australians making the most of the benefits of AI.
“We recognize that this is a very complicated issue. We take these issues carefully and ensure that our approach to AI regulation is consistent with Australia’s values and benefits Australians,” Giles said.
Artificial intelligence may be the answer to productivity concerns
In the past, technological advances such as the introduction of ATMs have led to expanding business.
“Fear was taking away the job of the bank teller, and actually increasing employment,” Davis said.
“We reduced the cost of having a branch by making it easier to withdraw money.
“That meant there was an expansion of other services, such as loan mortgages and other aspects of increasing net employment.”
But Davis warned that it is wrong to assume that all productivity benefits will be realized.
“We want all these benefits to happen and we’re really focused on trying to push things that perhaps some of them don’t,” Davis said.
Growing Regulatory Calls
There are calls from unions and creative industries for better regulation of technology to protect jobs.
The union will head to next week’s roundtable for enforceable contracts that allow employers to consult with staff before introducing new AI technology.
Davis’ research found that businesses can take advantage of the greater benefits from AI if workers are included in the adoption process.
“It’s not good that workers involved around AI don’t have… it’s actually an essential component of achieving productivity gains from new technology.”
He said there is now a “huge gap” between privacy law and intellectual copyright law, and that is necessary.
“The organizations I talk to want regulatory certainty, rather than barriers to innovation. They want to know what the rules are.
“AI is a very powerful and transformative set of technology.
“It would be stupid to say, ‘Wait a minute, what benefits do we want and how can we get them the best?’ ”
Nicholas Davis says that AI regulations and innovation can coexist. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore))
Earlier this month, former Minister of Industry Ed Fushik advocated AI Acts that help prevent risks.
But Australia’s Technology Council Chairman Scott Farker has urged the government not to regulate it as the first resort.
Earlier this week, he said many of the harms currently known are covered by existing regulations.
He expected some jobs to be lost, including call centre workers, but he said he could also create jobs from AI and increase the number of data centres.
“I’ll ask the union to help train new jobs and get them done faster, not just for four years of apprentice,” he told 730.
“I’m asking the union to help us evolve for our work. How can we lead those people to new jobs?”
Cassidy adapts to AI by working in more performant jobs and explores his voice ethically.
He wants to see certain AI regulations and artist support when it comes to the enforcement of existing or future laws.
“I don’t have the budget to take this to court and go for the full miles,” Cassidy said.
“There are hundreds of situations where you need financial support, legal support, and sponsorship is needed to actually communicate the depth, length and width of this issue.”
