Would we approve such a pharmaceutical product? Probably not. Artificial intelligence is not literally a drug, and using an AI assistant is not the same as developing a physiological addiction to an opioid. But as a way of thinking about benefit, dosage, dependence, side-effects, externalities and regulation, the pharmaceutical comparison is surprisingly useful.

They underpin cloud computing, banking, telecommunications, government services, healthcare, research, business systems and, increasingly, artificial intelligence. They will also be important to Australia’s sovereign digital capability. Australia cannot sensibly depend entirely on computing infrastructure located overseas. So, the question is no longer whether Australia should build data centres.

AI is not inherently more truthful than people, but neither is human authorship a guarantee of truth. The most trustworthy source is the one that supplies evidence, acknowledges uncertainty and corrects its mistakes.