Cognitive overload, opaque automation, and AI surveillance are reshaping the modern workplace. I’m sharing some insights from my talk at the Safety Sphere, Australia’s leading HSE practitioner network, on “𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝗜 𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗮 𝗖𝗼𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿: 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗦𝗘 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗢𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹-𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗔𝗜.”

We examined how AI not only enhances productivity but also creates new health, safety, and environment (HSE) risks—humans absorbing machine liability, being constantly measured by AI, and facing cognitive strain from opaque systems and “AI slops”. “Augmentation” can also quickly blur into training the AI that replaces you.

At CSIRO’s Data61, our responsible and safe AI research is now extending into HSE—𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹, 𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴.

I also introduced our 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝟰𝗛𝗦𝗘 𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲, developing AI-based tools for HSE management, including the world’s first HSE benchmark for AI evaluation and agentic Q&A and AR/VR/XR systems for training and simulation.

𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙬𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙣 𝘼𝙄 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣𝙨 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙖𝙛𝙚𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙪𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙪𝙥𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙄-𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚?