The best moments often come when you stop chasing the shot and allow the environment to unfold around you. Birds, in particular, reward stillness. Whether it’s a tiny fairy-wren flitting through the undergrowth or a powerful owl chick observing the world from a branch, patience pays off.

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.