Investigating artificial intelligence risks for the Australian workforce

Artificial intelligence presents a new employment challenge for the Australian workforce. Intellectual and creative workers across many sectors are facing a new world of artificial intelligence tools that may reshape jobs, introduce new training requirements, or even replace workers entirely. Little is known about how these technologies will impact workers and workplaces longer term. One area of particular concern is the lack of knowledge regarding the pipelines that office software companies use to gather data for training from workers’ existing labour. This is especially the case in terms of consent and clarity for workers about where and when their work is captured. The project aims to examine the way that these data pipelines are increasingly used to gather data from Australian workers to train the very same artificial intelligences that may replace them.

The project has the potential to benefit Australia both socially and
economically. Artificial intelligence will increasingly replace human workers in many sectors of the workforce. By understanding the potential retraining needs of workers in these sectors, the project will benefit Australia by identifying future educational needs and associated economic support for workers who may be affected by artificial intelligence driven redundancy, and by supporting public and policy discussions about the future workforce. It produces new knowledge on the consequences of artificial intelligence for workers and businesses through surveys and interviews of digital workers and businesses. Benefits include a better understanding of potential social and economic consequences of artificial intelligence driven job losses.

This project is one of only two DECRAs awarded nationally in the Communication and Media Studies Discipline code.