Australia’s major political parties are edging towards rare consensus. Labor and the Coalition increasingly want to take a major bet on artificial intelligence. Yet, just as the parties are coming together, the Australian community is running the other way.
Last year, only 30% of Australians believed the benefits of AI outweighed the risks. In 2026, community trust in AI appears to be falling even further. It was an unusual step for our parliament to form a joint select committee on AI.
It signalled that the decisions being made now on datacentres and how we adopt AI could define our economy, environment and society for generations. As a fresh round of hearings starts this week, the committee members must confront the gulf between the politics of AI and the stark reality on the ground. Some parts of the business sector are urging us to prioritise innovation and AI adoption, which is often another way of saying: “Do a better job of selling the upside of AI.” Whether you’re an AI optimist or a sceptic, this is a terrible idea.
Sam Altman, Dario Amodei and the other titans of Silicon Valley have a golden megaphone to spruik the benefits of their technology. Australians don’t want our elected representatives to do the same thing – especially when the technology is already bringing both opportunity and harm. This doesn’t mean being blind to the benefits of AI.
On the contrary, Australia is among the highest users per capita of Anthropic’s Claude and other generative AI applications. But we must also be clear-eyed about potential risks. And, crucially, we don’t see a compelling response to our concerns from government or the AI companies themselves.
Take the impact of AI on work. Our community is asking practical questions. How will AI impact our jobs, and the jobs of our children?
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