What to learn from Deloitte's $98,000 mistake

This week on AFR Success, we've found that the cost of not checking your AI document for errors in enough detail is about $98,000, apparently.

At least that’s the haircut Deloitte took on its $440,000 fee for a report issued to the government earlier this year that contained apparent AI hallucinations, as revealed this week in reporting by professional services editor Edmund Tadros .

The fact Deloitte has been using AI to assist its work is not surprising. The big four consulting firm has been jostling to position itself as the AI adviser of choice for a while.

And mistakes are also not surprising. A study by University of Melbourne and KPMG in May showed 59 per cent of Australian workers reported AI had led to mistakes at work.

What is surprising is that the company was not more careful in checking its results. And that Deloitte was opaque about its AI use in the first place.

The deputy secretary for the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, Tania Rishniw, told a senate committee hearing this morning that the department was only alerted to the mistakes after it was contacted by the media for comment.

She also told the committee DEWR was not told AI was being used in preparation of the report. This seems to be Deloitte’s biggest mistake. Being fully frank and transparent about use is one of the main pieces of guidance experts offered in this piece about how not to fall into the same trap.

Elsewhere this week, fashion editor Lauren Sams has this great piece about how to survive a firing from two women who lived it, take a look at the holiday town FIFO workers are remaking as home base, and meet three start-up founders eschewing uni (they believe you can learn better on the job).

Until next time, in case you’re ever unsure about whether you should be using AI in a specific context, I’ll leave you with my favourite suggestion from Thomson Geer partner Steven Hunwicks📶 :

“If your employer or a customer found out you used this information in an AI tool, would they be OK with it? The answer to that question will send you in the right direction.”

I feel like this is good advice to live by.

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We hope you enjoyed this newsletter. We welcome your comments and feedback, which you can send to rachael.bolton@afr.com.