Artificial intelligence is shaping and increasingly rewriting Indo-Pacific nations’ strategic, economic and security planning, often faster than governments and institutions can absorb the implications. Frontier models are advancing at a pace that outstrips the policy conversations needed to channel their immense power safely. The choices governments make today, ranging from ensuring continued access to frontier capability, to supply chain resilience and security and defence integration, will determine the region's strategic position for future generations.
 
The Sydney Dialogue (TSD) Artificial Intelligence Masterclass will bring together political leaders, senior officials, industry innovators and civil society experts for a full day of frank discussion on the benefits, challenges and implications of AI, including where AI is taking the region and what Australia and its partners can do to ensure they are not mere bystanders as the technology reshapes society, safety and security.  
 
The Masterclass will consider questions on the many aspects of the AI race – including frontier AI and adoption – on the role of great and middle powers, and on who controls the resources required to power our AI future. 
 
The event will examine the global strategic outlook, the need for capacity building in the region and Australia's specific role in the AI supply chain. While it will address the need to incentivise and facilitate innovation through policy and regulatory changes, the day will also focus on the security and defence questions posed by frontier AI. 
 
As with all TSD convenings, the aim is to break down silos between government, industry and civil society, and to bring perspectives from across the Indo-Pacific into a conversation that can too often be dominated by Washington and Beijing. Given the pace of innovation and the increasing power of AI models, policy-oriented discussions and the forging of strategic partnerships to leverage this technology and the opportunities it presents are needed. TSD is the Indo-Pacific’s leading platform to do just that. Don’t miss your chance to be a part of it. 
 
This Artificial Intelligence Masterclass is convened by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute as part of the Sydney Dialogue, the premier policy summit for critical, emerging and cyber technologies.

•  Global strategic outlook
•  The role of great and middle powers 
•  The AI race, including frontier AI and adoption 
•  Australia’s role in the AI supply chain 
•  Defence applications of AI 
•  AI safety 
•  Regional capacity building strategic partnerships

Technology is developing much faster than governments can regulate it or even recognise the implications. Societies are using technology without fully understanding its capabilities, security risks and supply chain vulnerabilities.

This lack of understanding is a risk in itself and can only be mitigated effectively if the public, private and civil society sectors work together to acknowledge the gaps and turbocharge the actions to fill them. Whether government, industry or institution, falling behind temporarily risks never catching up. And this can have implications, ranging from individuals or local industries being out-innovated by competitors to being a determining factor in international strategic competition if democratic nations allow authoritarian regimes to set new technology standards and dominate global adoption.  The remarkable surge in the capabilities of generative artificial intelligence (AI), and the lack of any agreed roadmap on what the next breakthrough will be – much less how governments might respond – is just the latest and most profound demonstration of the growing gulf between the advances of innovators and the ability of policymakers and societies to understand and confidently adopt them.

The Sydney Dialogue (TSD), established in 2021, is the Indo-Pacific’s leading forum on cyber and critical technologies, with a particular focus on AI. It seeks to break down silos and bring together political leaders, senior officials, industry innovators and civil society leaders in the Indo-Pacific. The Dialogue aims to promote diverse views that stimulate real conversations about the best ways to seize opportunities and minimise risks and bring more diverse voices into public debates.

While the positions of the United States, China and Europe tend to dominate the global conversation, the world hears too little about policy thinking taking place in India, Japan, Southeast Asia and Oceania. TSD provides a platform for Indo-Pacific leaders to forge new partnerships between governments and with industry, and deepen existing relationships, to leverage the opportunities presented by this technology while prioritising safety and security.

If you are interested in sponsoring the TSD AI Masterclass, please contact Olivia Nelson, ASPI's Chief of Staff via: olivianelson@aspi.org.au