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Worried about AI changing your job, or do you feel like you should be using it, but don’t know where to start?

In this live podcast episode of Emerging Tech Unpacked, host Lucy Lin speaks with Lee Hickin, Executive Director of Australia’s National AI Centre, about Australia’s AI future, the skills we need and what AI adoption looks like for small businesses.

From getting time back to helping teams navigate change, Lee challenges the way we talk about AI at work. Is “productivity” really the benefit people care about? Does responsible AI need to mean complicated governance? And how do we move beyond fear without ignoring the risks?

We explore:

• Getting started with AI when you’re already stretched for time.

• Why AI confidence involves more than learning how to use ChatGPT.

• The jobs debate, and the difference between changing tasks and changing roles.

• Practical AI safety, transparency and accountability for small businesses.

• The Office of AI and the National AI Centre’s role in supporting adoption.

• Whether Australia should build its own AI models, and where we could lead.

Plus, Lee shares a revealing story about a car repair business whose AI experiment stalled, not because the technology failed, but because the people weren’t on board.

This conversation was recorded live in front of an audience at Cremorne Digital Hub, in collaboration with SMEC AI.

What’s holding you back from using AI at work: time, confidence, skills or something else? Tell us in the comments.

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Chapters

00:00 Meet Lee Hickin, Executive Director, the National AI Centre

01:16 Australia’s Office of AI: what’s its role?

03:10 “Where do I start?” The biggest AI adoption hurdle

05:05 How the National AI Centre helps businesses

08:06 What’s holding Australia back from embracing AI?

12:13 Forget productivity - can AI give you time back?

20:17 Less jargon, better habits: rethinking AI governance

21:31 Is AI taking jobs, or changing how we work?

23:46 From AI fear to confidence: changing the conversation

24:28 When AI works, but your team isn’t on board

26:58 AI skills beyond prompting: learn the limitations

29:58 Should Australia build its own AI models?

32:44 Where Australia could lead in applied AI

35:29 Deepfakes, disclosure and being transparent with customers

37:34 Why the AI conversation needs more humanity

40:17 What comes next for Australia’s AI adoption?

42:25 Final takeaways: keeping humans in the loop

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