Artificial intelligence is being sold as the answer to humanity’s biggest challenges, but Four Corners is asking whether anyone is really keeping pace with the technology’s rapid rise.
In a new investigation, reporter Steve Cannane examines the global race to build increasingly powerful AI systems, following the money, influence and ambitions driving one of the biggest technological shifts of the modern era.
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Artificial intelligence is already changing how we live and work, while being sold as the technology that could cure disease, transform productivity and solve some of the world’s biggest problems.
Four Corners reporter Steve Cannane investigates the race to build ever more powerful AI systems and asks whether it is moving faster than governments and communities can keep up with.
Filmed in the United States and Australia, the program goes inside the global battle between the world’s most powerful technology companies as they spend huge amounts of money building systems some say could one day outperform humans.
Four Corners meets Bay Area tech workers who say AI has already upended their careers, experts who warn of systems that are becoming harder to control, and campaigners fighting the growing power of big tech companies.
The story also takes a look at the next generation of AI models; software that can take instructions, make plans and act with increasing autonomy. Some in Australia are now asking what happens if these systems are deployed without adequate safeguards.
Four Corners also digs into the physical footprint needed for the AI boom. Across America, communities are pushing back against the rapid construction of data centres, raising concerns about noise, pollution, water and energy use.
Now, Australia is being courted as a key destination for major AI and data centre investment. The program examines deals, lobbying and policy shifts as global tech giants promise innovation, scientific progress and productivity gains. Critics warn Australia has retreated from tougher AI safety regulation at the very moment the technology is accelerating.
As the world’s most powerful AI companies seek to invest billions in Australia, Four Corners asks: who controls our future?
