Australia’s legal system is “not ready” for artificial intelligence as new generative models pose a risk to privacy and political communication, a leading human rights organisation has warned.

Amnesty International warned popular AI systems such as ChatGPT were “incompatible with the right to privacy” in a scathing worldwide report released on Thursday.

The human rights organisation also alleged AI models risked wider rights concerns, including discrimination against historically marginalised groups and an ability to “manipulate user intentions”, posing a risk to “freedom of thought”.

The report called for an urgent intervention, including in Australia, to address “the most harmful practises” of AI companies, which had been allowed to “spin out high-risk products” at the expense of users and human rights.

Amnesty International Australia International and Crisis Lead Andrew Witheford said Australia, lacking a long-awaited Human Rights Acts, was left exposed to AI.

“We have real problems because we basically have these few little protections in the constitution,” including the only the implied right to political communication, he said.

“Basically, our legal system is not ready for AI. It’s not ready to provide these protections.”

Mr Witheford said the Albanese government had taken a “soft touch” when it came to AI.

“There’s a strong argument that can be made for greater government regulation in this area,” he said.“The government has just decided that we are going to rely on the goodwill of the tech companies.

Mr Witheford said while much of the debate around AI had focused on economic impact, the models also impact “society’s access to information, right to privacy, what people are seeing and hearing, and public debates”.

“There is so much potential for abuse,” he said.

“We are all entitled to think what we want, but let's not kid ourselves, its based on what we read and hear and see, and this will alter that.

He continued: “The bottom line is that Australia faces the same problem with AI as all other economies and societies, but this will be exacerbated by the fact that the government has decided to go for a light touch – essentially no touch – regulation model.

“This presents significant dangers, because it will alter how our societies work, how our economies work, and that has a knock on effect to how our democracy works.”

Reflecting on the rise of social media, it was “very dangerous to make a call at the outset” to take a lighter touch, Mr Witheford said.

“You basically end up having deep entrenchment of systems in your economy and your society … that is harder to unwind – to fix – if not impossible,” he said.

“We’ve got that problem with social media. So, we’ve decided that we’re going to try to protect kids. But, then when with adults it’s all right?”

Mr Witheford said biases baked into AI would “amplify existing inequalities”.

The report also raised concerns about the environmental impact of artificial intelligence.

Asked about the influence of artificial intelligence on Wednesday, Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth said there was “responsibility across the board”.

“This is employers and governments and organisations, to make sure that we are skilling our people and ensuring that they have the skills to, augment their jobs … what we need to do is have a national effort to make sure that we’re upskilling workers so that we can get the advantage, the productivity advantage that comes from AI.”

The Albanese government late last year launched its AI action plan, which aims to hone in on possible benefits to AI while ensure adequate safeguards.

A spokesperson for the Attorney-General’s office told NewsWire the government was working on a second tranche of privacy reforms to” further uplift the privacy protections of Australians”.

“Australians have a right to have their privacy respected, and when they are asked to hand over their personal data they expect it will be appropriately handled and protected,” they said.

In April, Microsoft announced a $25bn investment to strengthen Australia’s AI-enabled economy and train three million Australian workers.