Artificial intelligence's role in news and information needs scrutiny

The role artificial intelligence plays in the information Australians have access to needs transparency and regulatory oversight to mitigate "filter bubbles" – where people aren't challenged by alternative viewpoints – and other adverse outcomes. Algorithmic control over news and information, via Google Search and Facebook Newsfeed, is one of the key focus points for industry lobbying Free TV in its submission to the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science's discussion paper on Artificial Intelligence: Australia's Ethics Framework. AI has a growing role in how humans access content. Artificial intelligence will play an increasingly important role in everyday lives as inventions such as driverless cars become more of a reality. However, the department notes an AI ethics framework is not about changing laws or ethical standards, it is about making sure those already existing can be applied to AI. "The point of this submission was there is this whole area that's very important to the fabric of society, which is news, and that wasn't something that was focused on in the paper," Free TV chief executive Bridget Fair said.