New penalties and powers on regulators' wishlist to tackle growing AI abuse
Australian regulators say they must find new ways to investigate and enforce against corporate wrongdoing and consumer harms as generative AI use increases.
Australia's consumer, securities, online safety and privacy regulators are urging lawmakers to hand them new investigative powers and a revamp of court penalties to tackle abuse of artificial intelligence.
In a packed auditorium at the University of Technology Sydney on Tuesday, senior representatives from the ACCC, ASIC, eSafety and the Privacy Commissioner set out the challenges they are already facing in enforcing Australian law as artificial intelligence — especially generative AI — booms.
The event, hosted by ASIC and UTS' Human Technology Institute, came in a big week for artificial intelligence both in Australia and abroad. A high-profile AI Summit took place in Seoul and a major controversy erupted in the US over the alleged appropriation of Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson's voice by OpenAI, while closer to home the Australian Senate Select Committee on adopting AI held public hearings in Canberra.
Privacy commissioner Carly Kind said enforcement has been "heavily driven and preoccupied" by individuals making complaints to regulators.
