Artificial Intelligence White Paper

AI Governance and Leadership Whitepaper

The Whitepaper was produced by the Australian Human Rights Commission and the World Economic Forum to explore models of governance and leadership in respect of artificial intelligence (AI) in Australia.

The White Paper can be found under the Previous Project Material section.

AI can enable prediction and problem-solving approaches that save the lives of seriously ill hospital patients. Yet AI can also be used to threaten human rights. For example, we have seen allegations of AI entrenching bias and discrimination in the United States' criminal justice system, as well as in policing in Australia.

Scandals and controversy connected to new technologies have increased public concern regarding decision-making that uses AI, data privacy, cyber security, political influence and labour market shifts.

The future of AI

Our challenge as a nation is to ensure these technologies deliver what Australians need and want, rather than what they fear. There is added urgency because other countries are investing heavily in these areas.

The Commission and the World Economic Forum produced this White Paper to expand on that question posed in the Commission’s Issues Paper (found under the Previous Project Material section).

Based on early analysis of data, the White Paper started with the hypothesis that Australia needs to match the rising levels of innovation in AI technologies with innovation in AI governance, and focuses on the practical challenge of exploring what that might look like.

The White Paper focused on one key question: whether Australia needs an organisation to take a central role in promoting responsible innovation in AI and related technology.