In the first letter of his papacy, Amazing humanityPope Leo XIV called artificial intelligence the moral challenge of our time. Rapidly advancing technology, he warned in a 42,000-word document released in May, must be regulated to ensure it serves, rather than undermines, humanity.
Anthony Albanese, who grew up in the Catholic Church and reconnected with his faith later in life, briefly referenced the pope’s encyclical in his first major speech on AI on Wednesday. The setting for the event also had a religious feel: the University of Sydney’s Great Sand Hall, which resembles a cathedral with stained glass windows and a pipe organ.
The prime minister, however, did not pretend to aim for philosophical highs like the Pope in his 20-minute speech. He is a political leader, not a religious one, after all. And the timing of the speech was political – a week before Labour’s national conference, where unions and activists are pushing to embed greater AI control into the party’s policy platform.
From dissolving our capacity for independent thought to mass unemployment to self-guided weapons of war, there’s a lot to worry about with AI. Artificial intelligence uses modern computers, but its methods are as mysterious as miracles to many people, and to discuss them is to use supernatural powers.
Albanese knows that. Instead of exacerbating these fears, he came with a message of reassurance and calm, in a bid to lower the collective heart rate. To tell the public, and the Labor faithful, basically: We know you’re a little confused, but trust us, we’ll handle it.
Exuding confidence, the Albanians used the word opportunity, or opportunity, nine times.
AI, he said, is a “generational opportunity” that Australia must seize or be left behind. The threat was immediately used, but only in a decided way: “Now, we must not consider AI as a threat to good jobs – we must use it as a tool to help create them.” Albanese mentioned danger six times, but again avoided doom and gloom. “It’s not our goal to try and legislate for every possible incident or risk,” he said. “That just creates the risk of Australia missing out on investment altogether.”
Referring to Labour’s creation of Medicare, mandatory superannuation and his government’s ban on social media for children under 16, Albanese said Australia “can set a standard that changes the way the world looks at an issue and deals with it”. The same could happen with AI, he stressed.
The greater danger, he argued, was inaction rather than action. “If we hang back, or stand still, this will pass over us.”
Albanese announced that the government aims to submit legislation to parliament early next year to create a regulatory framework for large AI data centers. Part of this will be a legal obligation to ensure these stations generate electricity instead of net users, meaning they will not increase the price of electricity for homes and businesses. He will also establish a new office in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to deal with AI policy.
An ardent supporter of Australian music, Albanese was particularly vocal about the need to protect the work of local artists and journalists, pledging to put in place “the strongest possible safeguards” to ensure machine learning models cannot multiply and profit from existing work without permission or compensation.
Overall, though, the speech lacked detail and offered little for everyone.
The purpose was to make a case for the government to intervene in the future without disturbing the private sector. As short-term stakeholder management, it was a masterclass, reflected in the fact that unions (who want tighter regulation of AI) and big business (who want a more hands-off approach) praised the speech.
Although not an encyclical, it still had the feel of a sermon. As we enter a new era, and in many scary, technological ways, the Albanians issued warnings not to give in to despair. The policy nitty-gritty can wait for another day.
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Matthew Knott is the foreign affairs and national security correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect through X, Facebook or email address.
