Last week the NSW Housing Delivery Authority (HDA) – the body created last year to fast-track major housing approvals – reportedly stood down a senior staff member for using AI software to collate and standardise planning data.

I don’t know the details beyond what I read in the Herald, and appreciate legitimate concerns around unauthorised tools and transparency – but I have to ask – is the HDA is using every available tool, including AI, to speed up planning? And if not, why not?

Unlocking housing supply is critical to improving affordability – AI could make a difference. Credit: Sam Mooy

I think government departments across the country should be experimenting with AI to work out how it can be used to deliver better public services. And if they aren’t, they’re letting us down.

Community attitudes to AI vary, but Australians are alive to many risks – from misinformation, deepfakes and bias, to the impact on democracy, jobs and privacy, to the control of US big tech.

Robo-debt also lurks in our minds, and while that catastrophe didn’t use AI, it has generated widespread distrust of automated government decision-making.

The risks are real and complex, but........

© The Sydney Morning Herald