Investigating artificial intelligence risks for the Australian workforce
Author Kathy Nickels
Date 26 August 2024
Dr Robbie Fordyce, an Affiliate of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society at Monash University, has been awarded funding through the Australian Research Council’s (ARC) Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) scheme to investigate the risks artificial intelligence (AI) poses to the Australian workforce.
Titled Investigating artificial intelligence risks for the Australian workforce, this research will examine the way that office software is increasingly used to gather data from Australian workers to train the artificial intelligence that may replace them. The project expects to produce new knowledge on the consequences of artificial intelligence for workers and businesses through surveys and interviews of digital workers and businesses.
Expected outcomes include a report identifying the risks to workers’ jobs in sectors most dependent on office software, and recommendations for potential retraining needs for affected workers. Benefits include a better understanding of potential social and economic consequences of artificial intelligence driven job losses.
“The ARC Discovery Program has an impressive track record in generating new knowledge that addresses a significant problem or gap in knowledge, and it offers exciting opportunities for Australia’s promising early career researchers to develop in supportive environments,” ARC Acting Chief Executive Officer, Dr Richard Johnson said.
The DECRA scheme supports innovative and high-impact research and is awarded to outstanding early-career researchers with demonstrated capacity for high-quality research and emerging capability for leadership and supervision.
