Short abstract:

This paper examines the practice of AI testing in Australian communities, connecting contemporary practices of new technology testing (drones, autonomous vehicles) with longer histories of scientific experimentation in the settler colonial nation.

Long abstract:

Australia has long been a site for scientific experimentation. This history spans innovations in carceral methods in convict sites like Port Arthur, medical experiments performed on Aboriginal people in the central deserts (what is known as Australia's Tuskegee experiments), and the testing of nuclear weapons in territories such as the Montebello Islands, Maralinga, and Emu Fields. From colonisation to the present day, the Australian land and its people have been treated as a ‘low risk’ site for the empirical testing of high-risk theories and procedures. Most recently, Big Tech companies have begun to experiment with the country’s potential as a testbed for new features and products. The streaming service Spotify used Australia as a testing site for its then experimental Discover Weekly playlist. The dating app Tinder piloted features like Tinder Social and Super Like in the Australian market before releasing them globally. And Facebook trialled its 2018 upvote downvote feature first on users based in Australia and New Zealand. In the context of new technologies, such AI, Australia has been described as a ‘sandbox for innovation’, an ‘ideal testing ground’ for experimentation, the perfect ‘petri dish’ for global businesses to trial new features before opening them to primary markets. Drawing on historical analysis and fieldwork based in testbed communities (drone delivery and autonomous vehicles), this paper asks: how did Australia come to be treated as a global technology testbed? Who becomes the test subjects for these experiments? And what are the impacts of testing on communities and environments?