Tech giant's tips for Australia to catch the AI wave

The Advertiser

30-06-2025

Tax incentives and artificial intelligence lessons in schools could help ensure Australia doesn't miss out on the benefits of the AI wave, according to the firm behind industry giant ChatGPT.
For OpenAI chief economist Ronnie Chatterji, a visit to Australia to meet with business leaders, investors and policy makers comes at an opportune moment.
The federal government has embraced AI as a key plank in its mission to fix the nation's stagnant productivity growth and improve living standards ahead of an economic reform roundtable in August.
"It's a good time where there's a big conversation in economic policy circles right now about how to increase productivity," Dr Chatterji told AAP.
AI can make the economy more productive and society more prosperous by freeing workers from mundane administrative tasks, OpenAI said in an economic blueprint for Australia released on Tuesday.
"A nurse unburdened by paperwork can spend more time with patients," its report said.
"A business owner with more bandwidth can pursue bold ideas."
But to achieve this utopian vision, governments must encourage adoption with targeted investment and extra training, it argued.
Tax incentives should be offered for businesses to increase adoption and training programs should be rolled out to increase the capability of the workforce.
In education, AI literacy and ethics lessons should be introduced to schools to give students the skills to harness the technology when they enter the workforce.
Australia had huge potential to capitalise on AI, Dr Chatterji said.
Its geographic position near Southeast Asia, strong software sector epitomised by firms like Canva and Atlassian and abundant renewable energy resources made it a perfect place to invest in data centres needed to power the technology.
AI has been touted as a general-purpose technology that, like electricity or the steam engine, can transform the entire economy.
But like the industrial revolutions of the past, fears have grown about the dislocation that the new technology will bring to the job market.
Early studies showed AI was complementing workers and boosting their productivity rather than eliminating them, Dr Chatterji said.
The view that over time transformative technologies add more jobs to the economy than they eliminate is shared by Andrew Leigh, the assistant minister for productivity.
"The biggest employment risk from AI may not be job displacement - it may be working for a business that doesn't adopt it and falls behind or fails entirely," he said in a June speech.
But Dr Leigh acknowledged there was a risk removing grunt work would eliminate entry-level positions, like his role sifting through case documents as a young lawyer.
Dr Chatterji, a former Biden administration adviser, is alive to concerns about AI's potential impact on jobs, privacy and misinformation, insisting his company is intensely committed to safety and aligning with societal values.
An OpenAI model was recently pulled back from release after in-house testing revealed concerns it was being too sycophantic.
While it shows an example of the industry self-regulating, governments would also have a role to play, especially around behavioural models and safety, Dr Chatterji added.
ACTU secretary Sally McManus said it was important the economic dividends AI brought were shared with workers and not just swallowed up in corporate profits.
"We want (productivity) to improve because we want people's living standards to improve," she said.
"You have to make sure that you have a fair distribution of gains in productivity, and that could be via shorter working hours, or it could be via higher pay."
Tax incentives and artificial intelligence lessons in schools could help ensure Australia doesn't miss out on the benefits of the AI wave, according to the firm behind industry giant ChatGPT.
For OpenAI chief economist Ronnie Chatterji, a visit to Australia to meet with business leaders, investors and policy makers comes at an opportune moment.
The federal government has embraced AI as a key plank in its mission to fix the nation's stagnant productivity growth and improve living standards ahead of an economic reform roundtable in August.
"It's a good time where there's a big conversation in economic policy circles right now about how to increase productivity," Dr Chatterji told AAP.
AI can make the economy more productive and society more prosperous by freeing workers from mundane administrative tasks, OpenAI said in an economic blueprint for Australia released on Tuesday.
"A nurse unburdened by paperwork can spend more time with patients," its report said.
"A business owner with more bandwidth can pursue bold ideas."
But to achieve this utopian vision, governments must encourage adoption with targeted investment and extra training, it argued.
Tax incentives should be offered for businesses to increase adoption and training programs should be rolled out to increase the capability of the workforce.
In education, AI literacy and ethics lessons should be introduced to schools to give students the skills to harness the technology when they enter the workforce.
Australia had huge potential to capitalise on AI, Dr Chatterji said.
Its geographic position near Southeast Asia, strong software sector epitomised by firms like Canva and Atlassian and abundant renewable energy resources made it a perfect place to invest in data centres needed to power the technology.
AI has been touted as a general-purpose technology that, like electricity or the steam engine, can transform the entire economy.
But like the industrial revolutions of the past, fears have grown about the dislocation that the new technology will bring to the job market.
Early studies showed AI was complementing workers and boosting their productivity rather than eliminating them, Dr Chatterji said.
The view that over time transformative technologies add more jobs to the economy than they eliminate is shared by Andrew Leigh, the assistant minister for productivity.
"The biggest employment risk from AI may not be job displacement - it may be working for a business that doesn't adopt it and falls behind or fails entirely," he said in a June speech.
But Dr Leigh acknowledged there was a risk removing grunt work would eliminate entry-level positions, like his role sifting through case documents as a young lawyer.
Dr Chatterji, a former Biden administration adviser, is alive to concerns about AI's potential impact on jobs, privacy and misinformation, insisting his company is intensely committed to safety and aligning with societal values.
An OpenAI model was recently pulled back from release after in-house testing revealed concerns it was being too sycophantic.
While it shows an example of the industry self-regulating, governments would also have a role to play, especially around behavioural models and safety, Dr Chatterji added.
ACTU secretary Sally McManus said it was important the economic dividends AI brought were shared with workers and not just swallowed up in corporate profits.
"We want (productivity) to improve because we want people's living standards to improve," she said.
"You have to make sure that you have a fair distribution of gains in productivity, and that could be via shorter working hours, or it could be via higher pay."
Tax incentives and artificial intelligence lessons in schools could help ensure Australia doesn't miss out on the benefits of the AI wave, according to the firm behind industry giant ChatGPT.
For OpenAI chief economist Ronnie Chatterji, a visit to Australia to meet with business leaders, investors and policy makers comes at an opportune moment.
The federal government has embraced AI as a key plank in its mission to fix the nation's stagnant productivity growth and improve living standards ahead of an economic reform roundtable in August.
"It's a good time where there's a big conversation in economic policy circles right now about how to increase productivity," Dr Chatterji told AAP.
AI can make the economy more productive and society more prosperous by freeing workers from mundane administrative tasks, OpenAI said in an economic blueprint for Australia released on Tuesday.
"A nurse unburdened by paperwork can spend more time with patients," its report said.
"A business owner with more bandwidth can pursue bold ideas."
But to achieve this utopian vision, governments must encourage adoption with targeted investment and extra training, it argued.
Tax incentives should be offered for businesses to increase adoption and training programs should be rolled out to increase the capability of the workforce.
In education, AI literacy and ethics lessons should be introduced to schools to give students the skills to harness the technology when they enter the workforce.
Australia had huge potential to capitalise on AI, Dr Chatterji said.
Its geographic position near Southeast Asia, strong software sector epitomised by firms like Canva and Atlassian and abundant renewable energy resources made it a perfect place to invest in data centres needed to power the technology.
AI has been touted as a general-purpose technology that, like electricity or the steam engine, can transform the entire economy.
But like the industrial revolutions of the past, fears have grown about the dislocation that the new technology will bring to the job market.
Early studies showed AI was complementing workers and boosting their productivity rather than eliminating them, Dr Chatterji said.
The view that over time transformative technologies add more jobs to the economy than they eliminate is shared by Andrew Leigh, the assistant minister for productivity.
"The biggest employment risk from AI may not be job displacement - it may be working for a business that doesn't adopt it and falls behind or fails entirely," he said in a June speech.
But Dr Leigh acknowledged there was a risk removing grunt work would eliminate entry-level positions, like his role sifting through case documents as a young lawyer.
Dr Chatterji, a former Biden administration adviser, is alive to concerns about AI's potential impact on jobs, privacy and misinformation, insisting his company is intensely committed to safety and aligning with societal values.
An OpenAI model was recently pulled back from release after in-house testing revealed concerns it was being too sycophantic.
While it shows an example of the industry self-regulating, governments would also have a role to play, especially around behavioural models and safety, Dr Chatterji added.
ACTU secretary Sally McManus said it was important the economic dividends AI brought were shared with workers and not just swallowed up in corporate profits.
"We want (productivity) to improve because we want people's living standards to improve," she said.
"You have to make sure that you have a fair distribution of gains in productivity, and that could be via shorter working hours, or it could be via higher pay."
Tax incentives and artificial intelligence lessons in schools could help ensure Australia doesn't miss out on the benefits of the AI wave, according to the firm behind industry giant ChatGPT.
For OpenAI chief economist Ronnie Chatterji, a visit to Australia to meet with business leaders, investors and policy makers comes at an opportune moment.
The federal government has embraced AI as a key plank in its mission to fix the nation's stagnant productivity growth and improve living standards ahead of an economic reform roundtable in August.
"It's a good time where there's a big conversation in economic policy circles right now about how to increase productivity," Dr Chatterji told AAP.
AI can make the economy more productive and society more prosperous by freeing workers from mundane administrative tasks, OpenAI said in an economic blueprint for Australia released on Tuesday.
"A nurse unburdened by paperwork can spend more time with patients," its report said.
"A business owner with more bandwidth can pursue bold ideas."
But to achieve this utopian vision, governments must encourage adoption with targeted investment and extra training, it argued.
Tax incentives should be offered for businesses to increase adoption and training programs should be rolled out to increase the capability of the workforce.
In education, AI literacy and ethics lessons should be introduced to schools to give students the skills to harness the technology when they enter the workforce.
Australia had huge potential to capitalise on AI, Dr Chatterji said.
Its geographic position near Southeast Asia, strong software sector epitomised by firms like Canva and Atlassian and abundant renewable energy resources made it a perfect place to invest in data centres needed to power the technology.
AI has been touted as a general-purpose technology that, like electricity or the steam engine, can transform the entire economy.
But like the industrial revolutions of the past, fears have grown about the dislocation that the new technology will bring to the job market.
Early studies showed AI was complementing workers and boosting their productivity rather than eliminating them, Dr Chatterji said.
The view that over time transformative technologies add more jobs to the economy than they eliminate is shared by Andrew Leigh, the assistant minister for productivity.
"The biggest employment risk from AI may not be job displacement - it may be working for a business that doesn't adopt it and falls behind or fails entirely," he said in a June speech.
But Dr Leigh acknowledged there was a risk removing grunt work would eliminate entry-level positions, like his role sifting through case documents as a young lawyer.
Dr Chatterji, a former Biden administration adviser, is alive to concerns about AI's potential impact on jobs, privacy and misinformation, insisting his company is intensely committed to safety and aligning with societal values.
An OpenAI model was recently pulled back from release after in-house testing revealed concerns it was being too sycophantic.
While it shows an example of the industry self-regulating, governments would also have a role to play, especially around behavioural models and safety, Dr Chatterji added.
ACTU secretary Sally McManus said it was important the economic dividends AI brought were shared with workers and not just swallowed up in corporate profits.
"We want (productivity) to improve because we want people's living standards to improve," she said.
"You have to make sure that you have a fair distribution of gains in productivity, and that could be via shorter working hours, or it could be via higher pay."