ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE – AUSTRALIA

CBA slashes dozens of call centre jobs, citing new AI system rollout

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by James Eyers, David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 29-Jul-25

The Commonwealth Bank informed the Finance Sector Union last week that it will be making 45 roles in its call centre operations redundant, following the introduction of a chatbot system last month to answer customer inquiries. It is likely to be the first of many redundancies in the CBA’s call centres as a result of AI, with the CBA saying the new system has reduced the volume of call centre calls by 2,000 a week and has allowed it to concentrate its focus on upskilling its call centre team to deal with more complex customer queries

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, FINANCE SECTOR UNION

AI a Trojan horse for IR rules, business warns

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Phillip Coorey, John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 23-Jul-25

A recent survey by KPMG found that Australians have lower levels of artificial intelligence use, training and confidence than their global peers. Meanwhile, business leaders are concerned that the union movement will use the federal government’s upcoming productivity summit to argue for increased workplace regulation due to the growing adoption of AI technologies. Business Council of Australia CEO Bran Black says the business community will oppose any attempt to use to summit to further shift the balance of power in workplaces from employers to unions.

CORPORATES
KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

One in three jobs at serious risk in AI revolution

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 10-Dec-24

The Social Policy Group has forecast that artificial intelligence will result in ‘tectonic’ structural changes to the Australian economy and the nation’s workforce. The SPG’s report warns that these changes will be greater than any previous technical revolution. The report’s modelling suggests that in a worst-case scenario, up to 33 per cent of jobs in Australia could be impacted by AI by 2030 if there is no policy or regulatory intervention by govern­ment. The SPG has also expressed concern that Australia will fall behind other OECD economies due to the nation’s reliance on exporting raw materials and its dearth of high-value industries.

CORPORATES
SOCIAL POLICY GROUP

CBA trials AI to replace local call centre staff

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Paul Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 17-Sep-24

The Commonwealth Bank is trialling a ChatGPT-style platform called Hey CommBank, with a view to use it to potentially replace thousands of local call centre staff. CBA chief data and analytics officer Andrew McMullan says he expects there will come a time when its customers have become so used to using ChatGPT-style services that it will become the way that they interact with the bank, while Finance Sector Union assistant secretary Nicole McPherson has labelled the CBA’s plans to replace local call centre staff with its Hey CommBank platform as "disrespectful and tricky".

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, FINANCE SECTOR UNION

AICD warns of dangers from AI

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Glenda Korporaal
The Australian – Page: 18 : 12-Jun-24

The Australia Institute of Company Directors has released a new guidebook on artificial intelligence technology. Amongst other things, it advises company directors to examine the potential benefits and key risks associated with using AI within their organisation, while they should take action to ensure that the data that is being used by their company’s AI applications is ‘fit for purpose’. The AICD’s Mark Rigotti says directors may face significant commercial, reputational and regulatory damage if they lack sufficient oversight regarding the company’ use of AI.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF COMPANY DIRECTORS

New IR laws ‘can’t stop AI’s impact’

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 21-May-24

The Senate is conducting an inquiry into the adoption of artificial intelligence, with the ACTU using its submisssion to claim that current laws do not adequately ensure there is "sufficient openness, trans­parency and consent to the use of AI". The ACTU stated that the Fair Work Act does not provide sufficient protection against victimisation and discrimination where a human decision-maker is concerned, leaving it totally inequipped to deal with AI-based decision-making. The Australian Services Union used its submission to ensure that generous redundancy provisions are in place when job losses cannot be avoided because of AI, while the shop assistants union voiced concerns about algorithm-led rostering used across retail and warehousing.

CORPORATES
ACTU, AUSTRALIAN SERVICES UNION

Telstra installs robot helpers across stores, call centres in push towards AI-fuelled future

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Matthew Elmas
The New Daily – Page: Online : 20-Feb-24

Telstra has started to deploy an artificial intelligence tool called Ask Telstra to assist staff in handling customers’ complaints. Ask Telstra is powered by Microsoft Azure OpenAI, and is intended to be an internal search engine that will allow employees in the telco’s stores and call centres to access customers’ data quickly when they make a complaint or seek assistance. Professor Gary Mortimer from the Queensland University of Technology believes that unscripted, synthetic and natural AI voice interactions will eventually become the norm for retailers.

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Government clamp on AI likely to be part of new media deals

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jared Lynch
The Australian – Page: Online : 19-Dec-23

The federal government has endorsed the five recommendations that arose from a review of the news media bargaining code. The government has advised that another review of the code is slated be completed in early 2025, with the aim of ensuring that it remains ‘fit for purpose’ in a rapidly evolving technology environment for news publishers and digital platforms. Artificial intelligence technology was not specifically mentioned, but it may well be included in the next review. News Corp CEO Robert Thomson argued earlier in 2023 that media companies should be compensated when their content is use to train generative AI platforms.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

ACCC targets big tech’s AI power

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jared Lynch
The Australian – Page: 15 & 19 : 30-Oct-23

Documents released under freedom of information laws have revealed that the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has called on Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus to establish a digital platforms ombudsman, so as to help consumers resolve disputes with big technology companies. The documents also show that the ACCC wants UK-style legislation to curb the power of large tech firms like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, claiming that their early dominance in generative AI runs the risk of squeezing out smaller rivals.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, GOOGLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MICROSOFT AUSTRALIA, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED

News Corp encourages staff to try AI chatbot

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 8-Mar-23

News Corp Australia chairman Michael Miller has urged the media company’s staff to embrace artificial intelligence technology such as ChatGPT. Miller has told staff via email that AI will "change our industry", and noted that News Corp has already incorporated AI into its work practices. It has also established an AI Working Group to explore "high-value opportunities" for the technology.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS