In March 1968, Four Corners journalist Jim Downes asked Australians: "When this circuit learns your job, what are you going to do?" The circuit he referred to was the computer — a technology then both revered and feared in a society undergoing rapid change.

Downes described computers as "metal boxes of salmon-pink, beige or deep blue, trimmed in stainless steel or aluminium" that "promise or threaten the mind with what the industrial revolution did to the muscles." At the time, fewer than 600 computers existed in Australia, but the machines were already advancing rapidly.

"The disciples of the computer can see the prospect that a man's rise to the top may depend on his ability to commune with a machine, to turn computer power to personal power, and not the meek, but the systems analyst shall inherit the earth," Downes said. He added that some promoted computers with "near religious fervour" as a cure for the world's ills — "but they don't say how."

Almost six decades later, a similar conversation is unfolding about artificial intelligence. Inquiries at both state and federal levels are underway, new laws have been introduced, and unions are keeping a close watch as AI spreads through Australian workplaces and homes.

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas last month announced a royal commission into the technology, saying: "The use of artificial intelligence is an exciting opportunity to advance the cause of humanity. It is also true that..." — with the remainder of his statement underscoring the need for careful governance.

The 1968 report, unearthed from the ABC's digitised archive, serves as a reminder that the questions surrounding automation and employment are not new — even if the technology itself has changed profoundly.