South Australian leaders explore responsible use of AI in defence

“We must make sure the growth already underway in defence, space, and the digital economy translates into secure, highly skilled jobs for South Australians,” Picton said.

“AI will be part of the systems, industries, and decisions that shape Australia’s future security, and South Australia is well placed to help lead that work.”

Artificial intelligence and cyber technology have been rapidly integrated in the Australian defence industry, primarily through the use of autonomous, integrated systems and command-and-control support.

The use of AI specifically has been a contested subject in defence, with criticism surrounding the potential for critical decisions to be made by algorithms and computers.

Defence has continued to ensure that human oversight is a critical and stringent requirement when using artificial intelligence to make defence decisions.

“Defence will apply an informed, risk-based approach, which will preserve individual accountability for AI-enabled decisions and outcomes,” the department said on its website.

South Australian chair of the ACS, Mustafa Kadir, said that responsible and skilled personnel within the industry can assist in mitigating these potential risks and harnessing the best capabilities.

“South Australia is known as the Defence State, but its next advantage will be built by people with deep technology capability,” Kadir said.

“AI, cyber security, software, data and systems thinking are now central to defence, space, infrastructure and industry.

“As the professional body for Australia’s technology sector, ACS has an important role to play in supporting the skills, standards and leadership needed to use these technologies responsibly and turn AI from promise into capability.”