“We know it’s a lot harder to trust AI systems when you don’t understand them,” says Gillespie. “When people have low AI literacy, it makes them really vulnerable to some of the hype, as well as some of the scaremongering around AI.“So, what our research highlights is that AI literacy is a cross-cutting enabler.”Dr Nicole Gillespie drew parallel between AI literacy and trust. The research found that four in five Australians were “very concerned” about the societal risks of AI.“The majority of people in all 47 countries are concerned about the risks. A difference in Australia is that 70 per cent of people don’t think the current regulation and governance is sufficient to make AI use safe,” says Gillespie.“We find 80 per cent of people globally say they would trust AI systems more when they know AI governance mechanisms are in place, and the Australian Government has gone a long way to simplify and provide clearer guidance.”Building in safetyStephanie Crowe, head of the Australian Cyber Security Centre, Australian Signals Directorate, says that to generate trust in AI, it’s important to use AI products that are secure by design. Tools must be created by reputable companies that are explicit on their cybersecurity policies, and how they update and configure their AI models.“If it hasn’t got basic cyber hygiene or good security controls in place, that AI model will inherit those vulnerabilities,” says Crowe.“If you want to use an internet-facing AI model, for example, you probably don’t want it having access across all the sensitive datasets on your network and then funnelling all that back to the AI owner.”However, instead of attempting to build complete trust in AI, Crowe notes there is a need to find a “middle ground between full trust and scepticism”.“There is a middle ground, which is confidence in AI,” she says.Crowe also acknowledges that AI can be a powerful cybersecurity tool. Seeing evidence of AI being used to prevent harmful activity online can demonstrate its value to people who may be concerned about the technology and how it’s being used by hackers.“We need to use AI defensively, because we are probably in a period over the next 12–18 months of uncertainty and probably more vulnerabilities being discovered by AI,” she says.A responsible mindsetTechnology company Google is at the forefront of AI, and the company’s managing director and vice president, Australia and New Zealand, Mel Silva, says “guardrails and principles” have to be at the core of AI products.“When we’re launching products, we know they will go into the hands of billions of people around the world – and you don’t take that responsibility lightly,” says Silva.Google’s Mel Silva says “guardrails and principles” have to be at the core of AI products. That’s something Bunnings chief customer officer Rachael McVitty agrees with. She says tech guardrails and team education were critical when the company rolled out its customer-facing “Buddy” AI shopping assistant built on Google AI.“We made sure we had really strong AI guardrails and that we built Buddy in line with these guardrails,” says McVitty. “Some of these things include being transparent on how we’re using AI and making sure AI is fair and objective.“Ensuring Buddy supports customers with reliable information is essential and we leverage our own trusted DIY content to achieve this.”