Voters call for local AI safeguards as data centre concern rises

Voters want Australian-specific laws to regulate AI rather than reliance on an international agreement, exclusive polling shows while also showing rising concern that a multibillion-dollar data centre building boom will hurt local communities and the environment.

Amid claims that new data centres will drive up power prices by $50 billion over the next six years if developers fail to build new energy sources for them, a Resolve poll of 2200 people shows a generational gap between those who think the technology will deliver revolutionary long-lasting benefits to the world and those who fear its consequences.

AI proponents argue the technology will unleash a new wave of productivity growth akin to the advent of the personal computer or electricity. The building of data centres is driving global economic growth and contributing to a sharp increase in Australian private sector investment.

But even supporters have expressed concern about AI’s impact, from wiping out jobs to its use of power and water and the way the AI boom is contributing to higher interest rates on government debt.

A House-Senate select committee, due to report to the government by end of next month, is examining AI and its impact on the national jobs market, productivity, copyright laws and workers’ rights.

The Resolve poll found two-thirds of respondents now use AI. A quarter said they used it daily. In 2023, when Resolve first posed this question, just 31 per cent said they had used AI.

Younger Australians, aged between 18 and 34, were the most likely to use AI, at 87 per cent. But even among those aged at least 55, almost half had used the technology. Among regular users, 23 per cent said the technology posed a danger to mankind and society, but among non-users this figure climbed to 60 per cent.

Fifty-four per cent of regular users said AI carried some risks but the benefits of the technology outweighed those issues. Just 26 per cent of non-users had the same view.

And while 17 per cent of regular users agreed that AI posed minimal risks and would deliver revolutionary benefits to society, just 2 per cent of non-users were as optimistic.

The level of concern about the overall risks posed by technology is growing.

In 2023, an overwhelming 72 per cent backed constraints on the technology, with 44 per cent supporting international regulation compared with 29 per cent who wanted Australian-designed laws.

Overall regulation support has now lifted to 81 per cent. But there has been a change in views on who should regulate: 41 per cent now back Australian-led laws compared with 40 per cent for an international approach.

Just 20 per cent of those questioned believe AI regulation should continue at its current pace. Thirty-one per cent said it should slow, 10 per cent said it should it be paused temporarily, and another 18 per cent agreed it should completely stop.

Resolve Political Monitor pollster Jim Reed said it appeared most workers believed AI would help them or not unduly affect their work, but at the same time a large share of people feared for the fate of the planet from the technology.

“Less than one in five think it is a danger to their job or wages,” Reed said. “However, more than a third think it is a real danger to mankind. No wonder around six in 10 think AI development should at least be slowed or paused, if not given the boot altogether.”

One of the most contested parts of AI has been data centre construction. Westpac economists have estimated new data centres worth $155 billion or more than 5 per cent of GDP are in the nation’s construction pipeline.

But Resolve found while 32 per cent supported data centres in Australia, 33 per cent were opposed and 35 per cent were unsure.

There was a large age gap between supporters and opponents, with 42 per cent of those aged between 18 and 34 backing them compared with 22 per cent among over 55s.

Half of regular AI users support them compared with just 16 per cent of non-users.

The single largest concern about data centres, shared by 50 per cent of respondents, was their use of power, with 48 per cent expressing concern about their water use. Thirty-seven per cent were worried about a data centre being built near them, and the same proportion were concerned about their impact on the environment.

Modelling to be released on Monday by the Smart Energy Council shows the concerns over power and water may not be misplaced.

The modelling found that adding an extra five gigawatts of demand for power from data centres without additional clean power and storage would “cannibalise” the existing grid and force up household and consumer prices.

The federal government wants data centres to supply their own renewable energy sources, but there is a push by some states and territories to use existing and new fossil-fuel power sources.

But the energy council argues building new fossil-fuel power stations will drive up overall costs, which it estimates at between $6.8 billion and $11.1 billion for domestic power bills and between $35 billion and $38.8 billion for the business sector.

The hardest-hit state would be Queensland. The council argues the cost of new coal-fired power stations could add $1157 to the power bills of residents there over a six-year window. Victorian and NSW consumers would also face higher power bills.

“Data centres must bring their own new, clean electricity to the table,” council chief executive David McElrea said.

“If tech giants are allowed to plug straight into the existing grid without building dedicated new renewable generation and firming storage, it is ordinary families and local businesses who will
pay the price through sky-high power bills.”

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