In a speech that should surprise no one, US President Donald Trump recently unveiled his vision for AI that sees the US dominating global initiatives, does away with regulation, safety and copyright, and allows AI companies to steamroll labour rights and environmental protections.
The US AI action plan and executive orders emboldens AI companies with aggressive, expansionist ambitions, like OpenAI, whose CEO Sam Altman has declared how AI could delete whole job categories, “some areas … I think will be just like totally, totally gone”.
It comes as Australia looks to finalise its AI regulatory regime, with AI companies increasing their lobbying efforts locally to favour the laissez-faire American vision.
In an example that we are living in truly strange times, China, who the US paints as an AI aggressor the world should be wary of, has declared a much more collaborative, diplomatic vision, championing open source and global cooperation.
There are some key issues with Trump’s plan and executive orders.
He has expressed that he is in favour of allowing AI companies to ingest copyrighted works, undermining a key battleground in AI development that leaves artists, writers, designers, actors and the creative industry displaced and penniless.
One particularly dystopian inclusion is a requirement to train AI models against ‘woke’ ideas, namely DEI concepts like diversity, and climate change. The plan explicitly states that government procurement should only fund models and companies free from “ideological bias” – namely concepts that Trump finds unappealing.
The plan also encourages the aggressive expansion of data centres and key infrastructure, removing environmental protections and even providing federally-owned land to private companies.
This vision is impacting global approaches. Previous AI considerations around safety, responsibility and human rights have seemingly been forgotten, with conversations now turning to productivity, global dominance and regional security.
OpenAI in particular is leading the global push, recently announcing a deal with the UK government for wide-ranging collaboration to use OpenAI products in the UK public service, with exceptionally vague and detail-light terms and conditions.
OpenAI was also recently in Australia to launch their ‘AI in Australia – OpenAI’s economic blueprint’ – another vague and light-on-detail proposal with only high-level slogans and aspirations.
These are clear efforts to lobby global governments, including Australia’s to accept this new vision of AI being proposed by President Trump and the AI companies who will benefit.
A vision of an adversarial, America-first agenda, a transactional and short-sighted approach which ignores potential risks and creates colossal negative externalities.
Australia is a key player in the AI landscape, despite our smaller population and what many might consider minnow market and competitive status. This is because we are not afraid to develop regulatory initiatives which stand up to Big Tech companies, as well as our well-regarded reputation globally, in an environment where many regions are waiting to see how the US reacts to any perceived restrictions, and precedents are being watched closely.
But if the recent election results were anything to go by, Australia has resoundingly rejected Trumpism, and the public have voted in an historic Labor government majority that should send a clear signal as to what we think about any Trump-inspired policies.
Jordan Guiao is Director of Responsible Technology at Per Capita and author of ‘Disconnect: Why we get pushed to extremes online and how to stop it’
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