Artificial Intelligence in Australia: Why Closing the Gap Between High Usage and Business Adoption is Critical for the Economy
The Australian Financial Review
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Details
- Date Published
- 24 Sept 2026
- Priority Score
- 2
- Australian
- Yes
- Created
- 24 Sept 2026, 02:00 am
Description
Just 1 per cent of Australians fully trust AI and 44 per cent have little or no trust, leaving us using AI more than most but trusting it less than almost everyone.
Summary
This article explores the paradox of high individual AI usage alongside low organizational adoption in Australia, citing data from Microsoft and the Treasury's Intergenerational Report. It highlights a significant trust deficit, with only one percent of Australians fully trusting AI, which presents a barrier to meaningful economic integration. While focusing primarily on productivity and economic growth, the piece underscores how public skepticism regarding AI safety and reliability influences national policy and the pace of institutional deployment. These findings are relevant to Australian governance frameworks as they navigate the balance between rapid technological uptake and the establishment of robust safety standards to foster public confidence.
Body
TechnologyAIPrint articleSep 24, 2026 – 5.00amThe Intergenerational Report released this week writes artificial intelligence into the next 40 years of Australia’s economic story, while Treasury also reports that fewer than one in 10 Australian businesses would call their own adoption of AI significant. For a country that has taken to this technology faster than almost any other, that is the number that should worry us.We are not short of access to AI. New data from Microsoft today ranks us 11th globally, with 40.7 per cent of working-age Australians using generative AI in June, against a global average of 18.8 per cent. This high usage has created the first wave of adoption, counted in licences, pilots, and hours saved.Loading...SaveLog in or Subscribe to save articleShareCopy linkCopiedEmailLinkedInTwitterFacebookCopy linkCopiedShare via...Gift this articleSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? LoginLicense articleRead MoreAIOpinionMicrosoftFetching latest articles