Companies need more than generic chatbots to benefit from AI. Will this budget help?

This month’s federal budget made a familiar promise: artificial intelligence (AI) will help boost Australia’s productivity.

However, for many Australian companies, particularly small and medium-sized businesses, “using AI” still means experimenting with a generic chatbot to draft emails, summarize documents or write marketing copy. This could save time and reduce costs. But it is unlikely to transform national productivity on its own.

For Australia, the more exciting opportunity lies outside such generic tools. It’s a story of research partnerships, commercialization paths, and the developers, researchers, and startups that are turning AI into specialized solutions.

The measures announced in the Budget could make it easier for the AI ​​ecosystem to advance this vision. But there are also concerns about how tax reforms could affect incentives for AI start-ups, as well as the abrupt suspension of an existing funding program.

Go beyond chatbots

AI cannot magically grow…