Andrew Leigh
Andrew Leigh
Parliament of Australia Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities, Treasury and Employment
Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, and Federal Member for Fenner in the ACT. Prior to being elected in 2010, Andrew was a professor of economics at the Australian National University. He holds a PhD in Public Policy from Harvard, having graduated from the University of Sydney with first class honours in Arts and Law. Andrew is a past recipient of the Economic Society of Australia's Young Economist Award and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences.
His books include Disconnected (2010), Battlers and Billionaires: The Story of Inequality in Australia (2013), The Economics of Just About Everything (2014), The Luck of Politics (2015), Choosing Openness: Why Global Engagement is Best for Australia (2017), Randomistas: How Radical Researchers Changed Our World (2018), Innovation + Equality: How to Create a Future That Is More Star Trek Than Terminator (with Joshua Gans) (2019), Reconnected: A Community Builder's Handbook (with Nick Terrell) (2020), What's the Worst That Could Happen? Existential Risk and Extreme Politics (2021) and Fair Game: Lessons From Sport for a Fairer Society & a Stronger Economy (2022).
Andrew is the father of three sons - Sebastian, Theodore and Zachary, and lives with his wife Gweneth in Canberra. He has been a member of the Australian Labor Party since 1991.
His books include Disconnected (2010), Battlers and Billionaires: The Story of Inequality in Australia (2013), The Economics of Just About Everything (2014), The Luck of Politics (2015), Choosing Openness: Why Global Engagement is Best for Australia (2017), Randomistas: How Radical Researchers Changed Our World (2018), Innovation + Equality: How to Create a Future That Is More Star Trek Than Terminator (with Joshua Gans) (2019), Reconnected: A Community Builder's Handbook (with Nick Terrell) (2020), What's the Worst That Could Happen? Existential Risk and Extreme Politics (2021) and Fair Game: Lessons From Sport for a Fairer Society & a Stronger Economy (2022).
Andrew is the father of three sons - Sebastian, Theodore and Zachary, and lives with his wife Gweneth in Canberra. He has been a member of the Australian Labor Party since 1991.
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Related Sessions
Terminator or Star Trek? Shaping the Future of AI
FRI, OCT 20, 12:30 PM
Conference
Until recently, most saw artificial intelligence as the realm of science fiction. This changed with the rapid rise of AI language models, with most now agreeing we are on the precipice of AI becoming a fundamental, essential part of our society and our economy. It is time for humanity to develop a clear, coordinated strategy for harnessing the opportunities of AI, while recognising and building our resilience to the risks.
The Future of AI Panel will bring together experts in technology policy, economics, sociology, and security to explore three possible scenarios for the future of AI:
• ‘Terminator’: The worst-case scenario where unmanaged vulnerabilities, misaligned ethics, and a lack of governance cause widespread harm to our society and economy.
• ‘Blade Runner’: A stable yet dystopian scenario where humanity succeeds at preventing direct harm, but fails to ensure the benefits of AI technology are shared widely.
• ‘Star Trek’: A utopian future where our society and economy are resilient to risk, and the benefits of AI technology are shared inclusively and sustainably.
The panel, chaired by Andrew Leigh (author of Innovation + Equality: How to Create a Future That Is More Star Trek Than Terminator and What’s the Worst That Could Happen? Existential Risk and Extreme Politics), will bring its diverse perspectives together to discuss how we should act today to create a future that is more Star Trek, and less Terminator.
