Unions have warned that Australian workers and industries risk becoming hostages to the algorithm without guardrails on artificial intelligence. Transport Workers' Union national secretary Michael Kaine told a federal parliamentary inquiry that driverless vehicles could cause deaths, and said a May poll found seven in 10 respondents opposed fully automated taxis and trucks. The National Tertiary Education Union said it is in a dispute with RMIT over an AI program that could affect 40 admissions staff.
Playwright Tom Holloway has written a new play, Eliza, now showing at Melbourne Theatre Company. It retells the story of Joseph Weizenbaum, who created the ELIZA program in 1966 to show that computers could not truly understand people. Instead, users formed emotional bonds with it. Holloway says the story feels relevant as AI spreads. He argues the greater concern is the people who build and profit from the technology, and says regulation is needed. The play runs until October 31.
ACT independent Senator David Pocock has accused the federal Labor government of being starstruck by artificial intelligence firms. He has proposed a 5 per cent levy on AI data centre revenue in Australia, which he says would raise more than $500 million by the end of 2030 if started next January. Pocock said the Parliamentary Budget Office had costed the model. He cited Microsoft's Australian data centre business, which reported $2.3 billion in local revenue but paid no company tax. He also warned that creators' copyright could be sacrificed for AI training, and called for more independents in Parliament.
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Developers have used AI tools to create near-identical free versions of Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative, a suite that costs more than $1,000 a year. A tool called Reverse Engineer Anything, which helps developers replicate features in other software, also gained popularity on GitHub. Developer Brandon Thomas says AI can help return the internet to a more open era. Experts warn the tools could devalue developers' work and produce low-quality software. Copyright lawyer Malcolm Burrows says the law struggles to deal with the scale of software cloning.
Meta has been asked to identify who approved downloading pirated book collections, known as shadow libraries, used in early AI training. Meta argued that executives did not make formal decisions on such datasets and that no single decision-maker existed. Hixon, representing the authors, rejected those arguments, saying the request covers all decision-makers. Hixon also said Meta must explain what happened to pirated works not used for AI training. Meta and Entrepreneur Media's lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dobe Newton, a co-writer of the song I Am Australian, has objected to its use at a conservative political conference. He says he was never asked for permission and only learned of the performance after media contacted him. The song was sung at an opening ceremony of the Australian Conservative Political Action Conference in Brisbane on October 10 and 11, according to a conference program. Mr Newton says the song was written to celebrate multiculturalism, and he believes its use to promote a political view is inappropriate.
The International Confederation of Music Publishers says AI systems have already been trained on works by Australian artists, including Kylie Minogue and Nick Cave, without payment. Its managing director, John Phelan, warned that tech firms are pressing Australian policymakers to weaken copyright protections, describing the approach as an attempt to legitimise larceny. Phelan said that among the 62 countries that considered changing their laws, none had adopted the exemptions tech companies sought. Anthropic and OpenAI argued that existing rules hinder their operations in Australia, while OpenAI cited deals it had made with News Corp and the Guardian.
Meta has removed a provision from its commercial terms of use that had raised concerns about scraping publisher websites to train its AI models. The clause allowed the company to use content from business account domains, web pages and URLs. Legal experts had described it as a remarkable provision. Meta said the crawling terms applied only to its ads and business products, and that the change does not alter how it uses web crawlers.
Comedians say AI-generated accounts featuring scantily clad women are copying their stand-up jokes and gaining larger audiences. Julia Jasunas found a video in which an account called Aylen Skye delivered her joke almost word for word. WIRED identified eight comics whose clips have been replicated in this way. Some of the copies are not labelled as AI-generated. Comics say Meta told them the copies did not breach its community guidelines, and the accounts remain active. Legal protection for jokes is limited, and some comics say pursuing legal action would be costly.
Australian Electoral Commissioner Jeff Pope told a parliamentary committee that artificial intelligence is boosting misinformation, foreign interference and threats against political figures. He floated a legal requirement to label deepfakes but said the commission's enforcement powers are limited. Pope said it could only stop misleading content about the casting of a vote, and that a total ban on deepfakes might breach the implied freedom of political communication. Separately, a Productivity Commission representative said it was an open question whether Australia needed to host advanced AI models, and that copyright law would block training unless content was licensed.
An influential AI adviser to the Vatican, Father Paolo Benanti, has warned that Australia could repeat colonial exploitation if it lets AI companies train on copyrighted work without permission and send profits overseas. He said the money and tax revenue could end up in other countries. The federal government is considering copyright changes to attract AI training, though Attorney-General Michelle Rowland has said there are no plans to weaken copyright protections. Father Benanti also praised Australia's efforts to regulate social media and AI, and urged other countries to follow.
Assistant Minister for Productivity and Competition Andrew Leigh has warned that artificial intelligence could narrow wage gaps between workers while widening the income divide between workers and owners of capital. Speaking at a JPMorgan AI conference, he said a handful of AI companies could become toll collectors for the rest of the economy. He cited a study of more than 5000 customer-support agents, where productivity rose by 15 per cent and about 30 per cent among less-experienced workers.
Independent senator David Pocock has accused the Prime Minister’s Office of heavily vetting a letter from the parliamentary committee on artificial intelligence to Anthony Albanese. A digital draft seen by NewsWire shows a prime ministerial adviser directed changes, including rewording parts of the document. The letter called for robust safeguards to protect Australian data, changes to copyright laws and more investment in data centres. Liberal senator Jonathon Duniam, the committee’s deputy chair, said he was pleased the government had reviewed the letter and that it did not remove the committee’s independence.
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Senator David Pocock has raised concerns after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's office signed off on language in a bipartisan letter on AI policy before it was sent. Notes seen by Guardian Australia show a senior adviser made edits and wrote fine on some content. Some edits were made 35 minutes before the letter was sent on Monday night. Pocock said he gave feedback at 9:55pm, not knowing the letter had already been sent. Committee chair Jo Briskey and deputy chair Jonno Duniam said the process was consultative and that there was no interference.
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Senator David Pocock has raised concerns that an adviser to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reviewed a draft of an artificial intelligence committee's early advice before it was sent. Committee chair Jo Briskey, a Labor MP, said she engaged with the prime minister's office while finalising the advice. Liberal Senator Jonno Duniam, the deputy chair, said there was no interference. The committee recommends independent safety checks for AI companies, early access to new models for security agencies, and a review of copyright settings. Its final report is due in November.
Assistant minister Andrew Leigh says a small number of AI companies could become toll collectors for the wider economy, raising overall income inequality even as wage gaps narrow. In an advance excerpt of a speech to a JPMorgan conference, Mr Leigh argues the biggest gains may go to those who own the technology rather than those who use it. He says the risk lies in who gets hired, who owns productive assets and how much surplus firms with market power capture.
