Royal commission to look at the impact of AI on society
Image: Nathan Kuczmarski @kucz via Unsplash
The government of South Australia has announced it will establish a royal commission to examine the impact of artificial intelligence on society with a view to shaping government policy and regulations.
The commission is set to commence work on 1 October and submit its final report by July 2027. Its terms of reference will focus on “the economic and social opportunities and challenges that AI will bring to South Australia”, in particular its impact on education, the creative sector and public services, as well as skills and employment.
“The government intends to appoint a panel of commissioners with relevant expertise to lead the Royal Commission,” the South Australian government said in a statement released this week. “The commission is expected to hear evidence and receive submissions from a broad cross-section of the South Australian community, including business, industry bodies, unions, technology developers, academics, independent experts and representatives of creative industries.”
The move follows a trip to the US undertaken by Premier Peter Malinauskas, where he met with representatives from Google, OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as government officials. As reported by Information Age, at a press conference this week, he said he had discussed his plans for the commission with the tech giants, and wants them to participate.
He also signed a memorandum of understanding with OpenAI “to explore opportunities to develop AI skills, accelerate local research and innovation, attract global investment and spread the benefits of AI across South Australia”.
Malinauskas said he hoped the commission would make recommendations that could be adopted by state governments and federal authorities throughout the country.
The announcement has been met with mixed reactions.
The leader of South Australia’s opposition Liberal party, Ashton Hurn, denounced it as a waste of taxpayers’ money that duplicated work already undertaken by a parliamentary committee, which recommended that South Australia “work with the Commonwealth on clear, consistent and comprehensive national laws governing AI”.
But South Australian unions came out in support of the initiative. InDaily, an independent regional digital news outlet, reported that an IPSOS poll recently found 53% of workers in the state believe that AI would worsen the job market in the next three to five years. “Every South Australian industry and workplace will be affected by AI, and unions have been calling for a co-ordinated policy response from government for years,” SA Unions secretary Dale Beasley told InDaily.
Malinauskas said only governments and parliaments had the power to set policy frameworks that ensured AI was used “in a way that puts people first, rather than people finding their world changing around them without their interests being heard”.
He stressed the need to balance the impressive capabilities of AI with the risks. He described artificial intelligence as “an exciting opportunity to advance the cause of humanity” and the biggest technological shift since the industrial revolution, but warned that unchecked, it could pose “a material risk to the way our society operates, and a risk to the future of work if not thought through carefully”.
He was also concerned about AI usurping human creativity and communication, especially among the youth. “I hate the idea of kids graduating from high school and they’ve learned how to use ChatGPT, but not how to read, write and do arithmetic, or how to communicate with one another.”
South Australia spearheaded the ban on social media for under-16s, and Malinauskas said the state could play a similar role with AI, which held greater peril for society. “AI gone bad will make social media look like a walk in the park,” he said.
