The Australian Government’s decision to establish a new Office of Artificial Intelligence within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has been welcomed by the Australian Academy of the Humanities, which argues the nation’s AI ambitions will only succeed if they extend well beyond technology and computer science.
The new Office of AI has been tasked with coordinating Australia’s response to the opportunities and risks presented by artificial intelligence across a broad range of portfolios including productivity, education, employment, copyright, energy, safety and national security. By locating the Office within the Prime Minister’s department, the Government has signalled that AI is no longer simply an industry or innovation issue but a whole-of-government priority.
For the education sector, the move is significant. Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping teaching, learning, research, assessment and graduate employability, while also raising difficult questions around academic integrity, intellectual property and workforce preparedness. Universities, vocational providers and schools have all been grappling with how to integrate AI into education while maintaining quality and public trust.
The Academy says those challenges cannot be solved by technology experts alone.
Academy President Professor Stephen Garton said Australia’s AI future must be built on a broader understanding of how technology interacts with society.
“Artificial intelligence is already reshaping how Australians work, learn, create, communicate and participate in public life,” Professor Garton said.
He argued that Australia’s AI strategy must address culture, ethics, language, creativity, trust, rights, inclusion and democratic resilience alongside technical development and commercial investment.
“These are not secondary considerations. They will determine whether AI systems earn public confidence, reflect Australian values and circumstances, and deliver benefits across the community.”
The Academy’s intervention comes as governments around the world move from encouraging AI innovation to developing governance frameworks that balance economic opportunity with public confidence. While much of the policy debate has focused on computing infrastructure, regulation and investment, the Academy is making the case that Australia’s competitive advantage will also depend on expertise drawn from the humanities and social sciences.
Its 2026-27 Pre-Budget Submission called for a coordinated national investment in sovereign and responsible AI capability, including an AI Sovereignty Fund, a National AI Skills and Workforce Initiative, research translation hubs and a dedicated First Nations AI Capability and Inclusion Program.
The proposal reflects a growing recognition that AI literacy is becoming a multidisciplinary challenge. As universities revise curricula and employers seek graduates who can work effectively alongside AI, demand is increasing not only for technical capability but also for graduates with strong ethical reasoning, communication skills, cultural understanding and critical thinking.
For Australia’s international education sector, that message carries particular weight. As institutions compete globally to attract students into AI-related disciplines, there is an opportunity to differentiate Australian education by embedding responsible AI, ethics and interdisciplinary learning into degree programs rather than treating them as optional add-ons.
The Academy argues that Australia’s sovereign AI capability will depend on developing expertise in ethics, history, philosophy, Indigenous knowledge, languages, media studies, creative practice and human behaviour alongside engineering and data science.
To support that ambition, it is establishing a national Humanities and AI Capability Forum, due to commence in August. The Forum will bring together researchers and practitioners to map Australia’s humanities expertise, identify capability gaps and provide evidence-based advice to governments, universities, industry and the wider community.
Professor Garton said Australia needed the capacity “not merely to adopt technologies developed elsewhere, but to understand, interrogate, adapt and govern them on Australian terms.”
As AI becomes increasingly embedded across higher education, research and the workforce, the Academy’s message is a timely reminder that the technology race is no longer simply about building more powerful systems. It is equally about ensuring those systems reflect Australian values, strengthen public trust and deliver benefits across society.
For universities, that presents both a challenge and an opportunity. Institutions that combine technical excellence with strong humanities, ethics and social science capabilities may find themselves particularly well placed as governments, employers and students increasingly look beyond AI capability to responsible AI leadership.
