To research and report on the benefits and risks of the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence, the Australian Council of Learned Academies (ACOLA) has been awarded US$417,941 in government funding.

Today it was announced that ACOLA will create two reports ‘Deployment of Artificial Intelligence and what it presents for Australia’ and ‘The Internet of Things: Maximising the benefit of deployment’.

The first report will examine the opportunities, risks and benefits of AI covering the “economic, social, environmental, ethical and cultural impacts that will help guide AI development in Australia over the next decade”.

Technological leadership

The IoT report will study the opportunities and consequences of IoT, as well as ways to foster technological leadership while ensuring responsible deployment.

The reports will be available to read next year and are backed by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science.

They are also part of ACOLA’s Horizon Scanning Programme which explores emerging technology such as energy storage, precision medicine and synthetic biology on behalf of the Commonwealth Science Council.

Written by Leah Alger