Technology companies that have genuine utility for Australian governments and businesses are being wrongly tainted by fast-moving and commercialised generative artificial intelligence.
That is what one of the nation’s most successful data centre companies, CDC, is expected to tell a government inquiry on Friday.
The inquiry has spent a week probing big tech, industry experts and development companies about the future of AI in Australia, including asking if it is moving too fast.
CDC is part-owned by Australia’s sovereign wealth fund and specialises in work for government agencies and universities.
It does not take on many private clients and is not involved in commercial generative AI.
But chief strategy officer Jack Dan said people rarely understood the difference, which meant CDC was not as trusted as it ought to be.
“As a result of that, all the concerns about AI – whether it is here to take away jobs or it is here to end humanity – are being reflected in the case of all data centres because they become also a physical representation of AI,” he told AAP ahead of his appearance.
“People think that every single data centre in this country must be hosting AI. That’s not necessarily the case.
“We take care of all the systems everyone relies on every day.”
Along with representatives from Westpac, NAB and ANZ, the peak body for financial technology, FinTech Australia, will also front the inquiry.
It is expected to urge politicians to think beyond “narrow” conversations about generative AI.
“There is another AI revolution already underway, including beyond our cities and across the physical economy,” organisation chair Sarah Gorman will say.
She will note examples of credit reports being identified in accessible languages for migrants, help in fraud investigations and bank transaction reviews.
“Across our membership, we see AI being applied to very different real-world problems,” she will say.
“For us, the opportunity is not greater adoption of AI. It is to make sure Australia captures the productivity and economic opportunity from AI and builds capability in the areas where we can genuinely compete.”
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