Toner's AI advice
Australia could take a share of the global AI economy, argues ex-OpenAI board member Helen Toner, but it will take significant political will and public investment.
Researcher and former OpenAI board member Helen Toner thinks Australia could serve a critical niche in the global AI future.
Toner, who was at the centre of the world’s biggest business story in 2023 when she helped briefly oust OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, told Capital Brief’s Daniel Van Boom that Australia should leverage its bench of engineering and scientific talent by pumping public funding into ‘moonshot’ AI projects. (She also told Daniel that OpenAI’s recent restructure is “not as much of a walk-back” as has been reported”).
The subtext of Toner’s moonshot push is a sober assessment of our particular comparative advantage in the emerging AI economy. We are never going to be competitive in the foundational development of AI, which remains concentrated in the US and China. Likewise, the vast computing power needed will be built in jurisdictions where energy, labour and hardware are cheapest — in other words, not here. But what Australia does have is human capital and functional state capacity.
It’s a crucial conversation to have, given we are starting to feel the first tremors of the seismic long-term impact of artificial intelligence on the global economy.
