In 2023 artificial intelligence (AI) technologies have started to move into mainstream use. Tools such as ChatGPT have provided a way that almost everyone can start to interact with AI technologies – and many people are finding new and novel ways of using the technology. In many ways this stage of the use of AI in society mirrors the arrival of Google in the late 1990s, which really marked the beginning of widespread use of the internet.

A key difference between the use of AI in healthcare and the use of AI in other industries is where AI provides decision-making for diagnosis, prevention, prediction, prognosis, monitoring or treatment. In these cases, the AI is considered a medical device and is currently regulated as such – ‘software as a medical device (SaMD)’. This feeds into a bigger discussion of the use of AI across healthcare, for clinical and non-clinical purposes, and ensuring Australia is ready for its use. The healthcare consequences of the rise of generative models are rapidly unfolding and the national discussion about how to regulate AI is gaining pace.