AI Futures - How should we govern artificial intelligence?

Artificial intelligence has the potential to transform our world at an unprecedented rate, raising profound ethical questions in the process. 

As the power and influence of AI (and its owners) grows, and its applications reach further into private and public life, how should communities and governments respond?

One example making global headlines is Australia's world-first social media ban for children under 16 years of age. This controversial new law will require social media platforms like Facebook, X and TikTok to take 'reasonable steps' to prevent under-age users from holding an account or face penalties of up to AU$50 million. Time will tell whether this approach will: 

• Succeed in restricting access to social media platforms and reducing the detrimental impacts of social media algorithms / content

• Have unintended, negative consequences for people and society

• Who should own and control transformative technologies?

• What are the main risks of AI and can we mitigate / treat them?  

• How might we govern the development and implementation of AI to ensure that it serves the common good? 

This Folio Conversation with Professor Jeannie Paterson and Sarah Kaur will grapple with the ethical, governance and regulatory issues posed by the rise of artificial intelligence. Together, we will explore big questions such as:

This event is part of a collection of events and curated content on the theme, 'AI Futures'. This theme explores the risks, challenges and opportunities of artificial intelligence and how it is shaping our present and may shape our future(s).

Conversation Leader - Professor Jeannie Paterson

Jeannie Marie Paterson is a Professor of Law and Co Director of the Centre for AI and Digital Ethics at the University of Melbourne. 

Jeannie’s teaching and research focuses on consumer and data protection law in the context of emerging digital technologies, including issues of fairness, privacy, transparency, security and existential risk in the emergence of AI. Her current projects centre on digital mental health, generative AI in legal decision-making, and legal responses to deep fake fraud, under the theme of misleading AI.

Jeannie has a track record of consultation and collaboration with government, industry, regulators and community legal centres, as well as being a regular media commentator. She has consulted on legal and regulatory reform to ASEAN, the Banking and Financial Services Royal Commissions, the Productivity Commission, the Australian Law Reform Commission, Commonwealth Attorney General’s Department, Commonwealth Treasury, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

Jeannie is an affiliate researcher with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision Making and Society, as well as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law. Jeannie is currently a member of the Commonwealth Government’s temporary AI expert group. With Professor Andrew Robertson, Jeannie is the author of the text book Principles of Contract Law, along with articles and books on consumer protection law and consumer credit law such as the 'Consumer Protection Law and AI' chapter of the Cambridge Handbook of Private Law and Artificial Intelligence (2024).

Conversation Facilitator - Sarah Kaur

Sarah Kaur is a strategic designer and human-centred design researcher. Her passion is supporting the creative work of teams across disciplines to collaborate, and coming up with smart ways to create impact using participatory design.

Sarah is currently a Design Thinking Practitioner at CSIRO's Data61 Business Unit — the data and digital specialist arm of Australia's national science agency — focussing on research into Responsible AI and embedding human insight in machine learning and AI research and product development.  

She realises both the incredible potential for AI to support positive outcomes in policy and consumer experiences and the lack of awareness about appropriate ethical and technical governance in the AI space. 

She recently won the Women in AI Asia Pacific Award for Creative Industries, recognising her achievements as the lead designer for CSIRO and National AI Centre Responsible AI projects. These include the 'AI Impact Navigator', which guides board directors and CEOs to publicly disclose how AI is used and its impact. As reported in Forbes, Sarah's work aims to 'ensure that human needs, values, and real-world practicalities are at the forefront of AI development' and 'that innovation is balanced with ethical considerations and societal impact'.

She holds a Master of Business Analytics and a Bachelor in Fine Arts, and 12 years of professional experience supporting not-for-profit, government and private organisations realise their business objectives by placing humans and quality data at the centre of their decisions and investments. Sarah has designed and led stakeholder engagements on projects delivering algorithmic decision-making models to users. This includes Australia’s Family Court’s first machine learning product amïca, which helps couples separate by automating a two-party workflow to gather data, and suggesting a fair division of assets for their agreement.

Prior to becoming a strategic designer, Sarah was a video artist working with dancemakers, and a curator and artistic producer for multidisciplinary festivals. Making a tough choice between staying an arts professional and a sustainable income meant a career change and an entry into the world of digital. She joined Tundra as a Digital Producer and later Portable where she founded their Business Design discipline.

Sarah is on the Australian Red Cross Humanity First Advisory Panel to support the development of a humanitarian framework to guide ethical technology development.

Event Format 

Online Folio Conversations are not like your normal webinar or panel discussion.

We bring Folio members and guests — from different sectors, disciplines, occupations, and backgrounds — into connected conversation with leading thinkers and doers from Australia and abroad.

We prioritise interactive dialogue between our Conversation Leader and all attendees. We follow the Chatham House Rule to promote open, honest, and inclusive dialogue.

Folio Conversations are an open invitation to better understand the issues, each other, and the world around us. We encourage all attendees to bring their curiosity and actively listen and share their perspectives and experiences.