Australia has a chance to avoid Europe’s innovation trap
The country can govern technologies like AI without suppressing its transformational benefits, but only if it dodges the costly mistakes made elsewhere.
When I visited Australia last year, the country was deep in conversation about how to boost productivity.
In true Aussie fashion, it combined some excellent ideas with memorable turns of phrase. The chair of the Productivity Commission warned about “regulatory hairballs choking economic growth”, while the minister responsible for productivity and competition preferred slashing “thickets of regulation”.
It was this willingness to speak frankly — and presciently — about its problems that now places Australia at the very heart of a global debate that will shape the lives of generations to come: how to govern emerging technologies like artificial intelligence without suppressing their transformational benefits.
As I reflect on my second visit in less than a year, I am convinced this country is uniquely placed to chart a course that balances innovation with appropriate safeguards, while dodging the costly mistakes made elsewhere.
