In the wake of the Government releasing its interim response to the Safe and Responsible AI in Australia consultation, Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic announced an Artificial Intelligence Expert Group had been established.

With 12 members, the group will work with the Department of Industry, Science and Resources to provide advice on the transparency, testing and accountability of artificial intelligence (AI) as the Government prepares for its deployment into the Australian economy.

“This Artificial Intelligence Expert Group brings the right mix of skills to steer the formation of mandatory guardrails for high-risk AI settings,” Minister Husic said.

“With expertise in law, ethics and technology, I’m confident this group will get the balance right. It’s imperative sophisticated models underpinning high risk AI systems are transparent and well tested.

“Last month I announced our interim response to the Safe and Response AI consultation, and now we’ve delivered this impressive group to work on next steps.”

The group had its first meeting on 2 February and will remain in place until 30 June, after which the Government will consider more longer term arrangements. The members are:

• CSIRO Chief Scientist, Professor Bronwyn Fox;
• Chair of Australia’s national AI standards committee, OECD expert on AI risks, and advisor on international AI certification initiatives, Aurélie Jacquet;
• Dr Terri Janke, an international authority on Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP);
• Legal practitioner, Angus Lang SC;
• Director of the Australian Institute for Machine Learning at the University of Adelaide, Professor Simon Lucey:
• Founding co-director of the Centre for AI and Digital Ethics, Professor Jeannie Paterson;
• Co-founder of the Human Technology Institute, Professor Ed Santow;
• A Future Fellow at QUT and a Chief Investigator of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making & Society, Professor Nicolas Suzor;
• Professor Toby Walsh;
• Chief Investigator with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, Professor Kimberlee Weatherall;
• Professor Peta Wyeth; and
• Co-founder and CEO of Gradient Institute, Bill Simpson Young.