Submissions: Harnessing Data and Digital Technology (Interim Report) The undesirable limits of a regulatory conversation based on a narrow productivity perspective

This document outlines my general submissions in relation to the Productivity Commission’s (‘PC’) Harnessing Data and Digital Technology (Interim Report) (the ‘Interim Report’).1 A second document outlines my more detailed submissions relating to the gap in regulation where AI is used in legal services. The Interim Report gives some credence to the suggestion that the transformation likely to be associated with the increasing capability of AI might be as significant as that of the industrial revolution.2 If this is right, and we are at an historical inflexion point that might see social upheaval arising from the introduction of technological change, before looking at the recommendations of the Interim Report, it is useful to first understand the ideal role of government in dealing with such change. Accordingly, these submissions look first at the ideal role government should play in dealing with social and technological change before considering the implications of the productivity perspective relied on in the Interim Report. This submission then addresses the specific recommendations made by the Interim Report.