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ABC News Daily

What’s driving the AI backlash?

07 Jun 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What concerns are being raised about the AI revolution?

0.031 - 6.177 Unknown

Music and more.

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8.08 - 22.973 Alan Kohler

When energy costs jump, everyone feels it. At the bowser, on the power bill and across the economy. I'm Alan Kohler. And I'm Carrington Clark. On ABC Business Daily's Fuelcast, we break down the latest in fuel, energy and the forces driving prices.

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23.274 - 30.28 Unknown

It's a quick, clear update on what's moving, why it matters and what it can mean for your wallet and the wider economy.

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30.44 - 36.045 Alan Kohler

Find Fuelcast in the ABC Business Daily feed, on ABC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts.

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48.682 - 78.368 Sam Hawley

America's big tech bosses are trying to get artificial intelligence deployed everywhere. And by now, most of us are using AI, even if by accident, for daily tasks. But it doesn't mean we all agree with the path we're on. Today, the ABC's national AI reporter, Cam Wilson, on the growing revolt against AI. I'm Sam Hawley on Gadigal land in Sydney. This is ABC News Daily.

90.11 - 104.446 Sam Hawley

Cam, comedian Ronnie Cheng, who launched his career in Australia, was a speaker at a Harvard University graduation ceremony recently, and he really did touch a nerve when it came to AI, didn't he?

104.766 - 118.902 Cam Wilson

Yes, there have been a lot of commencement speakers who've been mentioning AI, obviously one of the biggest topics in the world right now, particularly relevant to young people thinking about a future career. Ronnie's approach to it was a little unorthodox.

119.928 - 124.393 Ronnie Cheng

Can I just say, A.I. A.I.

125.795 - 142.594 Cam Wilson

He told them quite directly that their job was not to embrace and adopt A.I., but to destroy it. He said that it was making mediocre people feel like they were smarter, and it's something that he thought has ultimately been a pretty negative influence on the world, so not a massive fan of it.

Chapter 2: How did Ronnie Cheng's speech at Harvard highlight AI issues?

599.851 - 618.013 Sam Hawley

So that's one area of concern, of course, and that's a concern that's going forward. But there is so much more, right? There's so much to this that people are concerned about. So just run me through a quick laundry list, I guess, of concerns about what AI might mean for all of us.

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617.993 - 639.748 Cam Wilson

Now, you know, it is a very common experience for Australians to see fake news AI swap, which is the kind of term for, you know, low effort AI generated content in your social media feeds. And that's very much linked to the fact that there is also this question around what these AI models were trained on. And that included a lot of people's intellectual property and creative works.

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639.728 - 662.588 Cam Wilson

So many creative industries and rights holders are saying these companies that have become some of the most powerful and valuable in the world have built this technology off the back of our work and we've received very little, if not no compensation for it. And then you've got the fact that this form of computing, artificial intelligence, is drastically more computing intensive than before.

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663.109 - 681.193 Cam Wilson

So as a result, these companies are having to build out the infrastructure, which is these data centers. Data centers are asking to use significant amounts of power, some water. They're promoting these benefits that in some cases are diffuse, saying, we'll make the economy more efficient.

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681.173 - 690.947 Cam Wilson

But at the same time, I can understand that even if they say, well, maybe these benefits come down the road, right now I'm kind of feeling the pinch and I'm not super happy about that.

691.468 - 696.976 Sam Hawley

Yeah, especially because there's a consolidation of wealth going on among the tech billionaires.

697.317 - 697.938 Cam Wilson

Absolutely.

703.566 - 721.025 Sam Hawley

All right, well, Cam, let's consider now if this decline in confidence in where AI is heading is can be countered or even if it should be. Is it important, do you think, that we trust AI? Because it does appear at this point that we are on a train that we really can't get off.

721.445 - 732.645 Cam Wilson

I see from the government that they understand this problem. I have spoken to people in the industry, researchers, politicians who all see this as a massive issue.

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