The proliferation of artificial intelligence technology will have a bigger impact on the global economy and society than the internet, according to outgoing Cisco Australia chief technology officer Kevin Bloch. Australia's place at the table in the development of these new artificial intelligence technologies and systems that will underpin all sectors of the economy in decades to come is far from certain. Even Australia's largest companies had not yet come to grips with the importance of the shift toward AI tech and with few exceptions were not directing adequate resources into R&D. Mr Bloch will leave Cisco on Friday after 21 years at the company, including the last 12 years as its chief technology officer. It is only a little ironic that at the height of a global pandemic and all the economic uncertainty it has wrought, Mr Bloch says the scale of the opportunities in the tech sector are such that the time is right for a move.

As if anyone needed reminding that a federal election looms, a war of words has broken out between the offices of Industry Minister Karen Andrews and shadow human services minister Ed Husic over a briefing on, of all things, artificial intelligence. Late last year, Mr Husic approached Ms Andrews' office seeking a briefing on the progress of an AI technology roadmap report being prepared by the CSIRO unit Data61 and the Department of Industry, and to get an understanding of the thinking in the report. The request was knocked by the Minister's office – not once but repeatedly – according to Ed Husic and he is not happy about it. These briefings are quite routine and rarely rejected, he says. While there are no specific rules around such briefings, by convention they are commonplace – although the understanding is that they are done in the background, quietly and without any resulting overtly politicisation. Even in the hyper-partisan times we live in, governments see merit in ensuring both the government and opposition benches the opportunity to understand the detail of evolving policy – particularly where there is complexity.