What we are facing now with generative AI is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The speed, scale, and scope of disruption are breathtaking. Without strong safeguards, entire careers, industries, and the cultural value we bring to Australia are at risk of disappearing almost overnight.

I’ve fought for inclusivity for my entire career, but I never thought in my wildest dreams I would be fighting for humans to be included in the making of art and imagery. It sounds absurd, I know, but this is not an episode of Black Mirror - it’s happening right now, every day.

Over the past two years I have been in discussions with AI companies all around the world to try to convince them to partner with human talent rather than replace them. To no avail. These tech guys have no interest in combining technology and humanity. None. They cannot fathom sharing profit with a real person. One male executive said, “Why would we, when we can make them in MidJourney and retain the total profit? It doesn’t make sense for us.”

After these bracing discussions I realised I’d have to do it myself. I’ve tested realistic avatars, video generation, face and voice cloning, even made deepfakes. I ran every scenario, the good and the bad. I have built an Ethical AI platform from scratch - not as a replacement for people, but as a tool that works with human talent and will hopefully protect them in this new world. The catch is, I don’t want to have to release it.

Through this intense research and development, I quickly became aware of how easily humans can be replaced across the board. Not just in creative industries — and how reliant we are, as a society, on the social contract that one sector needs the other to survive and thrive.

I am a third-generation member of Australia’s performing and creative arts industry. My grandparents were in the theatre and my dad, an actor, was on the first colour TV program in Australia. My mum was one of the most famous Australian models of her generation, discovered as a teenager in a department store fitting room. She ended up on the cover of almost every fashion magazine in Australia and winning Miss International. Our lives were surrounded by actors, directors, music composers, producers, photographers, make-up artists and scriptwriters. A wonderful eclectic mix of Australian creatives and performers.

Some “hit it big,” most lived modestly. All more concerned about the work than the money. That’s what differentiates Australian creatives: we are full of passion, and our goals are to create work that is important, substantial, thoughtful, poetic - or genius-level funny with a dry, wry twist that no other country fully appreciates.

This is not funny though, not at all.

Australia’s creative economy contributes over $122 billion annually in official data, but when you capture the gig economy and supporting services, it’s even more substantial. We are the teams behind every image you see, every campaign, film, artwork and story that shapes Australian culture. And right now, we’re the canary in the coal mine. If AI can hollow out our sector, every industry is next.

Marketing, journalism, design, law, education - even parts of healthcare - are already being automated. Telling people to “reskill” when the very jobs most people would move to are disappearing at the same time is dangerously naïve.

What makes AI different from past technological shifts is the sheer speed of adoption. The steam engine, electrification, even the rise of the internet - those changes played out over decades. AI doesn’t move like that. A single breakthrough can spread globally in days. Humans cannot keep pace when technology moves at supercomputer speed.

The numbers are staggering. The World Economic Forum projects that by 2030, 92 million jobs could disappear. That’s one in five jobs globally reshaped in just a few years. Here in Australia, our labour market is already softening. Unemployment is rising, full-time jobs are falling, and wages are barely moving. Behind those statistics are real people. Friends of mine in the industry are losing work daily because companies are turning to AI-generated assets, avatars and scripts instead of hiring humans. It’s happening now, not in some distant future.

Forrester warned Australia’s workforce could shrink by 11% by 2030. Really think about that. That is 1.6 million people.

When the people who have built the tech are sounding the alarm, it is absolute idiocy not to listen. Anthropic’s CEO has warned that up to half of entry-level white-collar jobs could vanish within five years. Mo Gawdat, who helped lead Google X, has said outright that the idea AI will create more jobs than it destroys is “100% crap.” When the builders are this worried, policymakers can’t afford to shrug it off.

Australians aren’t naïve. Polls show overwhelming public support for tighter regulation, fair compensation, stronger consumer protections, and clear labelling of AI-generated content. People don’t want to be tricked. They want choice, respect, and transparency.

Our government needs to listen, because if we don’t act now, the damage will be catastrophic.

This isn’t about blocking innovation. It’s about setting boundaries so artists, consumers, and our culture aren’t crushed in the rush. The EU is already moving faster on this than we are. Protecting the creative industries isn’t self-interest. It’s survival. Protect us, and you protect everyone. Leave us to fight alone, and the same wave will crash into every other sector.

We’ve been told the story that “AI will grow the economy,” about some magical $240 billion ‘AI dividend.’ But let’s be clear: that’s spread over a decade, not a year. Meanwhile, the same shift could strip $20–70 billion every single year from jobs, tax revenue, and cultural industries if companies are given free access to our creative works.

The math doesn’t add up. The loss outweighs the so-called gain.

The loss in terms of mental health and wellbeing is incalculable. People need purpose. Human beings need possibility, hope and opportunity to survive. We saw in COVID how quickly that unravels when life loses meaning. Imagine that multiplied across our communities. That sounds extreme, but the numbers bear it out: millions without work, no income, no safety net. That scale of disruption shakes societies to their core.

All to enrich (mostly) foreign tech giants.

This is not just an industry disruption. It’s a devastation of the social contract.

Originally published in Marie Claire 11th Oct 2025

https://www.marieclaire.com.au/author/chelsea-bonner/

https://www.marieclaire.com.au/news/advocacy/ai-australia-creatives/