Senator claims PM’s office edited AI letter

A letter written by a parliamentary AI committee and penned to Anthony Albanese was “heavily vetted” by the PM’s office, independent senator David Pocock claims.

Labor MP Jo Briskey and Liberal Senator Jonno Duniam, the respective chair and deputy chair of the committee, made several recommendations about Australia’s response to AI in the letter.

“Our letter to government, which is a document of the committee, does outline some pretty basic, commonsense approaches to dealing with issues that are confronting Australia,” Briskey said at a press conference on Tuesday.

That letter, however, contained edits and suggestions from the prime minister’s office, it has been claimed.

Pocock said he was concerned the committee is being used to get a preconceived outcome for the government.

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“One of the other things that I’m really concerned about is that when I actually loaded the letter up onto my computer, there’s a whole bunch of track changes from the PM’s office,” he told News24.

“So this is meant to be a letter from the committee, but clearly has been heavily vetted by the prime minister’s office.

“I’m concerned that the major parties are working together to potentially get a preconceived outcome rather than actually listening to experts, listening to the community and saying, hey, this is a massive challenge we’re facing.”

The bipartisan committee on AI is currently analysing the opportunities and risks that the technology presents and the current legal framework as Labor tries to encourage further data centre investment in Australia.

Nine.com.au understands the committee had sought consultation from his office before sending him the letter late on Monday.

Asked about it at the press conference on Tuesday, Duniam maintained that the “engagement” across parties is an example of the parliament working well and as it should.

“There’s been no guidance, no interference. There has been a lot of discussion, a lot of consultation,” he said.

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“I can tell the prime minister now, I’d be criticising him if he didn’t show interest in this, and I’m sure my Labor colleague here would be criticising Angus Taylor if he did not show interest in what we are doing.

“We have to get it right. We have to do it on Australia’s terms. Those who want to be constructive can.”

While the committee’s final report is due on November 30, Briskey said they felt it was important to provide an update to the government and public now.

Labor signed a data centre agreement with Anthropic on September 16 and is seeking to sign another with Microsoft.

The federal government has set standards for AI companies and reportedly provided Anthropic with a draft of those rules during the deal negotiations.

Albanese wants to balance incentivising new investment with strong protections.

“AI does have risks, but it also has potentially enormous benefits for humankind,” he told reporters on October 1.

“That’s why we’ve established a parliamentary committee chaired by Jo Briskey.

“That’s why as well, we’ve said that we’ll have Australian standards for AI and we look forward to having at least an exposure draft of that legislation by the end of the year.”