30 Sep CANNINGS ON THE AI REVOLUTION; TOP NEWS
FOOD FOR THOUGHT – AI REVOLUTION
AI continues to dominate public discourse. Ethical concerns regarding public servants’ AI use, highlighted by the Queensland Audit Office, stand in contrast to the ongoing pressure to increase its uptake. This was reflected in a Pearson report published this week which estimates 26% of jobs are at risk without workers upskilling and embracing AI. Our industry is no different. Cannings’ sister agency Ogilvy just launched its own AI tool Generative Impact to help maximize companies’ share of voice across AI platforms, evolving its own approach to communications.
There seems to be a Darwinian element to AI adoption in business where companies must adapt or be left behind. The Australian economy is wired for augmentation of jobs rather than replacement, but there is fundamental tension between the imperative for AI adoption for survival and the critical need to preserve the unique aspects of the human condition. Australian Composer and Artistic Director Jonathan Mills argues that mistaking AI’s impressive mimicry for genuine understanding or consciousness risks devaluing and eroding the very essence of what makes us human.
The danger is not just AI’s potential to wipe out humanity, but its more subtle capacity to lead to cognitive flatness if we allow it to diminish our human intelligence.
CONSEQUENCES FOR OPTUS
Telecommunications companies face tougher regulation and more direct government control after three people died during a Triple Zero outage last week.
Optus revealed that workers failed to act on at least five calls reporting the service was down hours before any action was taken. Analysts slammed underinvestment that had led to “systemic and repeated” failures of the emergency network. Optus was not only technically unprepared for the outage, but also organizationally and communicatively ill-equipped to manage the crisis.
Optus must consider its next steps carefully. From a communications perspective, demonstrating genuine empathy and commitment to public safety is the first step to rebuilding its shattered reputation, but it has a long way to go to rebuild trust in the organization.
PRIVATE CREDIT UNDER SCRUTINY
ASIC has warned the private credit sector to brace for more regulation, following a report that criticized its operations as falling short of global benchmarks and posing a potential systemic risk to self-managed super funds.
In the report, ASIC said private credit funds that attract investments from large superannuation funds and institutional investors demonstrate sound governance, however they called out a litany of worrying practices among some private credit firms.
The Australian Financial Review praised the report, stating its recommendations were pro-investor rather than regulatory overreach.
CURRENT AFFAIRS CORNER
UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY HIGHLIGHTS
- Australia, alongside allies UK and Canada, kicked off the assembly by formally recognizing the State of Palestine
- Just as Anthony Albanese’s failure to secure his first meeting with Trump was beginning to become politically damaging, the prime minister locked in a White House visit for 20 October
- US President Donald Trump backed Ukraine, unveiling a major shift of position for the administration
- Trump gave a provocative speech denouncing European leaders for allowing rampant immigration and switching to renewable energy made headlines
- Australia remained at a diplomatic impasse with Turkey, as the organization is yet to confirm which nation will host the 2026 COP31 climate summit
- The EU vowed to take action on social media after Anthony Albanese presented Australia’s world-leading ban for under-16s at the assembly
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