Australians are yet to see the benefits of AI and datacentres – and US midterms show they could be political kryptonite

Albanese should tread carefully as he struggles to make case for how the new technology will benefit ordinary voters

When will Australia see the benefits of the AI and datacentre boom? So far, all we’ve seen is the possibility of changes to copyright which would hurt Australian creatives, special rules about power and water use, and the threat of mass displacement or replacement of workers, with the trade-off being a mere 10% chance of human extinction.

Now add the Reserve Bank’s assessment this week that datacentres were part of growing “inflationary pressures” when lifting interest rates to an 18-year high.