The Australian government has taken another major step towards regulating AI by establishing an expert group to advise on safeguards for high-risk AI systems. On February 14, the Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic announced the creation of a 12-member Artificial Intelligence Expert Group, which held its first meeting on February 2.
The group will provide recommendations to the Department of Industry, Science and Resources on transparency, testing and accountability measures for AI systems operating in high-risk settings. This could include mandatory AI guardrails to ensure the technology is deployed safely and responsibly. “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 in a statement, “With expertise in law, ethics and technology, I’m confident this group will get the balance right.”
The creation of the expert group delivers on a key commitment in the government’s interim response to the Safe and Responsible AI in Australia consultation, which was published last month. That report called for immediate work on options for regulatory frameworks and AI safety standards in areas like healthcare, transport and law enforcement.
The appointments to the 12-member expert panel reflect a diversity of backgrounds and specializations. They include scientists like Bronwyn Fox, CSIRO’s Chief Scientist, and AI experts such as Professor Simon Lucey, director of the Australian Institute for Machine Learning. Legal minds have also been enlisted, including Terri Janke, an authority on Indigenous cultural intellectual property, and Angus Lang SC, an intellectual property and AI law specialist. Ethicists on the panel include Ed Santow, co-founder of the Human Technology Institute, and Nicolas Suzor, an expert on digital governance from QUT. The group’s chair, Aurélie Jacquet, brings deep experience in developing responsible AI systems and chairs the national AI standards committee.
Minister Husic said the impressive expertise assembled will ensure sophisticated AI models are transparent and well tested before being deployed in high-risk settings. “Its imperative sophisticated models underpinning high risk AI systems are transparent and well tested,” he stated.
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