Harry Godber

Scoop: OpenAI has signed its first ever Australia government contract, quietly inking a deal with Treasury amid the ChatGPT-maker's charm offensive on policymakers. This modest contract is an ideal foothold into future, more lucrative deals, according to one firm's analysis. https://lnkd.in/grB6CRmb

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New from me: When Australian AI expert Dr Kobi Leins (PhD, GAICD) declined a medical specialist’s request to use AI transcription software during her child’s upcoming appointment, the practice told her the practitioner required the technology be used and Leins was "welcome to seek an alternative" provider. 👋 The specialist’s “high workload and limited time” meant they were now “unable to perform timely assessments without the use of AI transcribing tools”, the practice said in an email seen by Information Age. “They gave me the choice of proceeding with the AI that they were insisting on, or to find another practitioner,” Leins said. In Australia, healthcare providers can decide to not consult with a patient for any reason — except in emergency situations — provided they facilitate the patient’s ongoing care in some way. The system used by the specialist was one whose privacy and security capabilities Leins had previously reviewed as part of her work in AI governance — and one she said she would not want her child’s data “anywhere near”. And unlike most medical devices, AI scribes remain largely unregulated, leaving it up to individual healthcare practices to decide which tools they want to use, and how. The University of Queensland associate professor Dr Saeed Akhlaghpour said regulating AI scribes in healthcare with “targeted, risk-based national oversight” would help prevent potential issues around privacy, security, and liability. Full story: https://lnkd.in/gCJKR5Ne

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Australian startup Maincode has built Matilda, a large language model trained on Australian data and compliant with AI laws and regulations. Maincode founder and CEO Dave L. (Dave Lemphers) closed the annual Tech Leaders forum in the Hunter Valley, hosted by Influencing, which I attended. Dave gave some really interesting insights into Matilda's development and intended uses. Yes, Matilda is intended as Aussie's sovereign version answer to ChatGPT, but Maincode is also taking the model factory approach, producing models of various sizes and intended uses to suit the needs of Australian organisations. More about Matilda at www.maincode.com - AFR reports that the model will be demoed at SXSW Sydney in October. This effort, which is backed by Stake.com founder Ed Craven, could inform New Zealand efforts to build sovereign AI trained on our data and reflecting our culture, regulations and the Treaty of Waitangi. READ: https://lnkd.in/g3BKCbAJ

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Deloitte has been caught blatantly using AI to generate reports for commissioned consulting projects and will now repay the Albanese government after using AI in a $440,000 report, a fact uncovered by a professor on the government committee.It’s not about one firm or one government. Governments across the world should be cautious about blindly trusting consultants who are often not subject-matter experts, but rather glorified salespeople.

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This piece should be required reading for Aussie economic policy-makers. Australia ranks 105th globally for economic complexity. IP, jobs, and tax revenue are going offshore - what are we doing about it? Australian entrepreneurs launch hundreds of startups yearly, but only 1-5% scale beyond $50M. Meanwhile, Israel, Sweden, and Canada built deliberate scale-up infrastructure that turns startups into global enterprises. The formula works: government catalytic capital + experienced operators + private investment. We have 7 National Missions where we must lead, apparently. But without sovereign capability to deliver, we will just import solutions and offshore jobs. We can't build a vibrant economy on services and overpriced housing. https://lnkd.in/dDPpfkwz

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From celebrating Māori Language Week to hearing global leaders at the Institute of Directors in New Zealand Leaders Conference, one thread stood out through every kōrero and keynote... trust. The future is coming at leaders and governance faster than most can react. AI and emerging tech aren’t on some far-off horizon, they’re already in the boardroom, sometimes under the radar, often misunderstood. Like actually misunderstood! The number one threat (and opportunity) I picked up: governance and leadership teams simply aren't ready for the speed of change, the ethical curveballs, and the risks that shadow AI, plug-and-play tools, and quantum leaps in technology drop on our desks. Yet every speaker, regardless of focus from digital transformation and global risk to inclusion and strategic courage, kept circling back to trust. Not just the "do people believe us?" variety, but the lived trust that lets leaders ask tough questions about AI, challenge assumptions about data sovereignty, and experiment boldly but responsibly. This means transparency over tech hype. Accountability in how decisions are made. Permission to be curious, even dissenting, when the stakes are huge. If AI is the test, then trust is the answer. The future can't outpace our courage. Soo many cool speakers again, great people I got to catch up with, met new amazing humans and rekindled some old friends. What an awesome week! Pic of Kirsty Graham and her amazing keynote.

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