'Left behind': regions at risk on rush for AI uptake
Jul 18, 2026
Sydney [Australia], July 18: The regions risk falling behind on AI adoption unless they are written into Australia's landmark regulatory framework, an educator warns.
Artificial intelligence educator Jess Tresidder has welcomed the prime minister's national AI framework, but says it suffered a glaring omission.
She said he failed mention how the rollout would assist regional communities in incorporating the emergent technology.
"We cannot build trust as a society around AI if those already being left behind aren't part of the foundation from the very start," Ms Tresidder told AAP.
The government plans to require data centre operators to cover the cost of new energy generation in response to concerns about environmental impacts.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will also oversee the creation of an AI office within his department and will ensure creatives are compensated for the use of their work in training algorithms.
Missing from the announcement, Ms Tresidder said, was a commitment to ensure regional businesses were trained to incorporate the technology.
Regional businesses are already lagging their metro peers on AI uptake, according to the federal government's 2025 National AI Plan.
Research cited in the paper found only 29 per cent of regional organisations were adopting the technology, compared to 40 per cent in metro areas.
More than a quarter of small to medium enterprises in the regions were unaware of its potential applications, compared to 19 per cent in the cities.
Ms Tresidder, who advises government and organisations on how to incorporate the technology, said the plan needed to tackle regional uptake head on.
The applications for businesses in the regions and rural areas are extensive, from marketing to automating repetitive, non-core activities, she said.
Hailing from the Mount Gambier area, on South Australia's Limestone Coast, Ms Tresidder has seen the way new technologies can bypass the regions firsthand.
"A lot of regional community members feel as though they are the last to get access," she said.
"The last to get trained, but the first to feel the disruption."
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation
