When the AI bubble bursts, what will Australia do with the tools it built? One man thinks he has the answer

Journalist and science fiction author Cory Doctorow in his home office in Los Angeles. He says society will have to find a way to recover skills lost to AI once the bubble bursts. Photograph: Jessica Pons/The Guardian

When the AI bubble bursts, executives who enthusiastically replaced their staff with AI tools will learn that it takes a “really long time” to replace those lost skills, says Cory Doctorow, a science fiction author and journalist.

But those in creative fields should also be warned not to put all their faith in copyright as the best way to safeguard their work, Doctorow warns, just one week after the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, promised to ramp up protection against AI companies who refuse to pay.