AI and cybersecurity with ASD Director-General Abi Bradshaw

In the next episode of our TSD Artificial Intelligence Masterclass series, Justin Bassi speaks to Abi Bradshaw, Director-General of the Australian Signals Directorate.

The discussion explores how the capabilities of AI models have evolved over the past six months and how frontier models can be used to protect Australia’s national security, including in cyber defence.

Abi shared her views on the need for governments to grapple with the technology, noting that cybersecurity and AI are not a spectator sport and that “the only way you can engage in this contest is to run into it.” She noted that what’s missing in the AI context right now is an early warning system to identify systemic trends and prevent, or detect earlier, future incidents such as the Hugging Face hack.

The conversation also covers the offence-defence balance in cyberspace as AI is rolled out, Project Glasswing and how governments are working with industry big and small to enhance their cybersecurity and why it’s important for Australia to maintain access to the most powerful models. They also discuss Australia’s “legacy technology debt” and the need for legacy tech to be replaced to address cyber vulnerabilities.

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