Artificial intelligence (AI) is advancing with unprecedented speed, moving from theoretical promise to everyday reality in our courts, businesses, and communities. Its impact will be profound, not only in how we work and live, but in how we understand truth, fairness, and human dignity.
The critical question before us is not what AI can do, but what values will guide its development.
Australia may not have the technological might of global superpowers, but we can play a role that is no less vital. Our leadership must come through a moral and ethical lens, insisting that AI serves society, strengthens democracy, and protects human dignity. As Peter Jopling AM KC, Chair of the Menzies Leadership Foundation, reminded us at the recent Ninian Stephen Oration
“The true measure of progress is not technological capability alone, but how that capability serves justice, strengthens democracy, and upholds human dignity.”
The Ethical Challenge
The opportunities presented by AI are immense. It can accelerate medical discoveries, democratise access to knowledge, and help solve complex problems at scale. But these benefits are matched by equally serious risks:
- Authenticity and truth – deep-fake evidence and fabricated citations threaten the credibility of courts and the rule of law.
- Surveillance and inequality – AI-driven systems risk widening social divides, embedding biases, and eroding trust in institutions.
- Loss of human judgement – decisions requiring empathy and moral imagination risk being ceded to machines that cannot replicate these uniquely human qualities.
As Jopling warned in his speech, “Empathy, self-awareness, and moral imagination remain uniquely human strengths. These are not mere niceties to preserve at the edge; they must be designed into the systems we build and protected in the models we deploy.”
A Global Moment
Around the world, governments are moving quickly. The European Union’s AI Act sets strict rules on transparency and accountability. In the United States, President Biden’s 2023 Executive Order on AI sought to embed safety and civil rights protections, but it was revoked in early 2025 and replaced with a new framework prioritising innovation and competitiveness.
This shift underscores how fragile ethical guardrails can be when tied too closely to politics. Australia’s opportunity lies in creating durable frameworks, anchored in law, standards, and international collaboration that embed values beyond electoral cycles.
A Three-Fold Task for Australia
In his remarks, Jopling outlined a clear framework for action:
- Articulate human-centred principles – fairness, transparency, empathy, and inclusion must guide design and use.
- Translate principle into practice – through audits, standards, and accountability mechanisms that make ethics real.
- Collaborate globally – ensuring Australia’s distinct values influence international AI norms.
From Arms Race to Civic Technology
Too often, AI is framed as an arms race. But the more important race is the race for values.
As Jopling put it, “If we succeed, AI can be a civic technology—one that enlarges human capability and deepens justice. If we fail, it risks becoming just another accelerant of power, capacity, and exclusion.”
Australia’s contribution must be to lead with moral clarity—ensuring AI strengthens democracy, safeguards dignity, and enlarges the space for human imagination and justice.
Honouring a Legacy, Shaping a Future
The Ninian Stephen Oration honours a leader dedicated to justice, society, and the greater good. To uphold that legacy, Australia must not sit passively on the sidelines of this technological revolution.
Through articulating principles, building mechanisms, and forging global collaborations, we can ensure AI reflects the moral and ethical norms that define us as a society. In doing so, we honour Sir Ninian Stephen’s legacy while shaping a future in which technology serves humanity—not the other way around.
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The 2025 Oration of the Ninian Stephen Law Program: New Legal Thinking for Emerging Technologies, powered by the Menzies Leadership Foundation, featured Chief Justice Richard Niall of the Supreme Court of Victoria on the theme of AI and the Law.
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At the Menzies Leadership Foundation, we believe technology must never outrun the values that sustain society. Progress is measured not by capability alone, but by how it strengthens democracy, safeguards dignity, and enlarges the space for justice.
We are committed to equipping leaders who embed empathy, fairness, and accountability into the systems they shape. This is leadership that ensures innovation serves humanity, not the other way around.
Through research, dialogue, and global collaboration, we champion an ethical framework for AI that endures beyond politics and empowers the common good.
Together, we can build an ethical future for AI.
