One NZ: Kiwis distrust AI and fear job losses

Kia ora! Welcome to New Zealand’s weekly roundup of AI news, events, jobs and education.

As part of the recent AI in Creative Industries Summit, the Aotearoa AI Film Festival spotlighted local and global talent, drawing 187 entries with 12 finalists showcased on the day. ‘Concert’ is our favourite so far!

Audience votes decided the winners, with Hazel Abraham, Thomas Watts, and John Pelasio taking home Best Film Aotearoa, and Arastoo Moradi from Turkey winning Best International Film.

Meanwhile, the AI Forum’s third national survey on AI productivity in Aotearoa is now live for you to have your say, inviting participation from both AI users and non-users alike. Developed with Victoria University and Callaghan Innovation, the research continues to shape an honest, data-driven view of AI’s impact across New Zealand.

Happy reading ✌️

This week’s highlights:

🎓 Big Tech cuts grad hiring
⚕️ AI transforms Kiwi medicine
🌟 Teen wins AI social venture prize
🎯 Government launches AI training
🛡️ Westpac deploys scam detection AI
📱 McClure shows AI porn in Parliament
🎬 Kiwi filmmaker wins Cannes AI award
🎙️ Dr Taiuru: champions Māori AI adoption

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AI ECOSYSTEM

🤖 Trust Gap Threatens NZ AI Adoption

📣 Word On The Street: New One NZ report shows 77% of Kiwis use AI, but nearly half don't trust companies to handle it ethically.

🔍 Zooming In:

• Customer service and virtual assistants lead AI adoption, with 90% of 18-34s engaging versus 60% of 55+.

• 62% would stop using companies if concerned about their AI practices, creating real business risk.

• Two-thirds fear job losses from AI, though 43% acknowledge productivity gains and fraud prevention

🏘️ Our Take: The trust divide presents both risk and opportunity for Kiwi organisations and our country.

• Companies demonstrating ethical AI practices through transparency will differentiate themselves, while those hiding AI use face a customer exodus.

• Our low national trust in corporate AI is alarming - with productivity already lagging in countries where AI trust runs higher, we risk falling further behind globally. Microsoft studies have confirmed our business AI adoption lags both worker adoption and international peers, signalling that successful implementation depends on clear communication, transparency, and concentrated AI literacy investment.

• Beyond transparency, businesses must prioritise AI literacy training to unlock strategic value. When AI-enabled workers deliver 10x output, this creates high leverage for owners and executives, and they become too valuable to lose = savvy employers will invest more in retaining and developing this talent, fuelling growth instead of layoffs. To quote one founder conversation:

  • Question asked: “Aren’t you using AI to do more with fewer people?”

  • Laughing, they said: “AI makes my team unstoppable. Why would I want fewer unstoppable people?”

FISHERIES SECTOR

🐟 AI Robot Divers Boost Kiwi Shellfish Industry by $80M

📣 Word On The Street: University of Canterbury's underwater AI promises $80M yearly windfall for mussel industry targeting $3B sector growth.

🔍 Zooming In:

• AI predicts where mussel ropes move to snap perfect photos underwater.

• Tech spots invasive pests instantly and removes them before they spread.

• Could create $100M in new exports within ten years if farms adopt it.

🏘️ Our Take: We're pioneering tech that protects our marine environment from climate-driven invasive species whilst feeding the world sustainably. Everyone thinks AI is just for big tech companies and their riches, but there are exceptional opportunities in industries that fly under the radar like aquaculture. This positions us as global leaders in smart ocean farming, creating high-tech careers in rural coastal communities and supporting Māori economic development whilst securing food supplies.

BUSINESS SECTOR

📚 Steven Joyce: AI Key to NZ Growth

📣 Word On The Street: Following Jacinda Ardern's AI optimism, ex-Finance Minister Steven Joyce says AI is key to our economic recovery.

🔍 Zooming In:

• Export-led recovery from the food sector is insufficient to lift tourism and education performance.

• Companies increasingly discuss AI strategies with Joyce amid broader economic uncertainty.

• Seven years of science underinvestment persists while government diverts research funds into reorganisation.

🏘️ Our Take: With both Steven Joyce and Jacinda Ardern now championing positive AI adoption, we're seeing rare cross-party consensus on embracing technological opportunity over fear.

Our traditional reliance on farming and land-based industries has natural limits - there's only so much value we can squeeze from finite soil and pasture. Joyce's AI push, backed by Ardern's emphasis on redefining rather than eliminating jobs, offers a collective framework to pivot towards a services-based economy that isn't constrained by geography. This shift from defensive thinking to embracing AI opportunities could finally break our economic dependence on what the land produces, restore the private investment confidence that's currently holding back growth across tourism, construction and education, and unlock the innovation potential that distance and isolation can't limit.

🎙️ Latest from The AI Corner podcast

Our guest on episode 4 of The AI Corner podcast is Dr Karaitiana Taiuru.

Dr. Karaitiana Taiuru shares the challenges of algorithmic bias, the importance of Māori data sovereignty, and the potential of AI to both harm and heal cultural narratives.

Listen on Spotify or YouTube 🎧

Subscribe to The AI Corner Podcast on Spotify and YouTube to be notified of new episodes.

🥝 Other Kiwi Bites

📱 McClure shows own AI Porn in Parliament. ACT MP displayed deepfake nude of herself to highlight a bill targeting 90-95% of online deepfakes being non-consensual pornography. The legislation would expand revenge porn laws and establish criminal penalties for creators and distributors across New Zealand.
2-min read.

🎯 Government launches AI training. Fifty public servants from 10 agencies start AI masterclasses this month. Training aims to boost productivity and improve service delivery for all Kiwis. Initiative promises improved decision-making and citizen service delivery.
1-min read.

⚕️ AI transforms Kiwi medicine. Auckland researchers lead global healthcare innovation with surgical robots and retinal scanners. Investment flowing into precision health for all Kiwis.
3-min read.

🎬 Kiwi filmmaker wins Cannes AI award. Wellington's Alex Curson scooped top honours at Cannes for his AI-generated trailer, proving NZ creators can compete globally using smart tech. His success shows local filmmakers can produce $500k-quality content for a fraction of traditional costs.
3-min read.

🌟 Teen wins scholarship for AI social venture. Arki Hunter, 17, scooped Crimson Education's scholarship after co-founding 12oz, an AI platform tackling NZ's drug and alcohol issues. The King's College student is now developing a second AI app targeting food waste while eyeing Stanford University.
3-min read.

🛍️ What’s Left On The Shelf

• Boardroom AI meeting transcription tools expose directors to liability.
  4-min read.

• Spinoff bans AI writing but allows transcript summaries.
  2-min read.

• AI makes NZ a low-risk testing ground for hackers.
  3-min read.

🦘 From Across the Ditch

🛡️ Westpac deploys real-time scam AI detection. Australian bank's frontline technology synthesises phone conversations to detect fraud coaching and stop scams faster than human operators alone.
3-min read.

🛒 AI slashes grocery bills 65%. Some of the best AI use cases are the most simple - Australian families cut weekly spending from $400-500 to $140 using ChatGPT for meal planning, to compare prices, and to eliminate emotional supermarket decisions.
3-min read.

🏥 Four Aussie receptionists sacked for AI. Sydney medical clinic replaces entire reception team days before Christmas, then asks departing staff to help set up replacement systems.
3-min read.

👁️ AI courses target vision impaired. Vision Australia offers 10-week courses teaching blind users ChatGPT, Be My Eyes, and Seeing AI through specialised JAWS integration.
3-min read.

🤖 AI targeted for productivity rescue. Neighbours face sliding productivity since 2022, with Productivity Commission investigating generative AI across 15 reform areas.
3-min read.

🌍 The News from Global

🎓 Big Tech cuts grad hiring. SignalFire found Big Tech slashed new graduate recruitment 25% in 2024 while boosting experienced hires 27% as AI handles entry-level tasks.
2-min read.

💰 Nvidia loses billions to China ban. CEO Jensen Huang said export controls cost $2.5B in Q1 revenue and forced $4.5B inventory writeoff, calling the market "effectively closed”. Huang warns China will "move on" without US chips.
3-min read.

⚙️ Multi-domain AI breakthrough. UK's largest defence trial spans land, sea, air with enhanced maritime surveillance, airborne target recognition, and faster naval decision-making.
2-min read.

🏢 AI transforms every industry. From Olympic training analytics to Navy SEAL gun detection systems to personalised shopping assistants, AI reshapes American business operations.
2-min read.

🌏 Tech Updates You Should Know

• OpenAI: Launched "Sign in with ChatGPT" SSO platform; upgraded Operator with o3 model for better automation; and secured $40B Nvidia chip deal for UAE Stargate data centre.

• Anthropic: Released Claude Sonnet 4 and Opus 4 models with 200K context; launched Claude Code integration with VS Code/GitHub; added voice mode and Google Workspace features; faced controversy over autonomous authority alerts.

• Meta: Hit 1B monthly Meta AI users; launched standalone app; restructured into AI Products vs AGI Foundations divisions; partnered with Anduril for military VR headsets.

• xAI/Grok: Investing $300M in Telegram partnership for universal Grok access; leaking Grok 3.5 with screen sharing and improved reasoning capabilities.

• Salesforce: Acquiring Informatica for $8B to integrate data tooling with Einstein AI and Customer 360 platform.

• Perplexity: Launched Perplexity Labs for 10-minute workflow automation; expanding beyond search into productivity tools and teasing Comet browser.

📚️ Levelling Up With AI

1️⃣ New Zealand’s AI public holiday: Matt Ensor believes NZ is just 8 hours away from AI transformation with a billboard in Auckland, an AI public holiday, and a nation that levels up in one day.
69-second clip.

2️⃣ Boards aren’t ready for their next biggest customer: AI agents. “Nearly 70% of directors know tech will change boardrooms. Only 25% are acting.” AI hasn’t hit most markets yet, but when it does, the buyer won’t be human. It’ll be an AI agent.
168-second clip.

📚️ AI Courses - Coming Soon 📚️ 

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We want to answer the call.

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📅 AI Events in New Zealand

Fresh off New Zealand's busiest AI week of the year, we're now heading into a much more relaxed pace! With just 14 events happening across the country this week, it's a significantly lighter schedule – but there are still some real gems worth checking out, so don't miss them!

This week’s featured event:

• Tauranga-  Innovative Education Summit 2025 - Fri: Local educators and University of Waikato explore AI literacy frameworks for classroom teachers across all levels. Tickets $30.

💼  AI Roles Around Aotearoa

Picklist of 🌶️ HOT 🌶️ roles in AI.

• AI Engineer, Emirates Team New Zealand, Auckland

• Senior Scientist, Data - MetService, Wellington

• Senior MLOps Engineer - Herd-i, Christchurch

🤦‍♂️ AI Fail Of The Week

We all love AI, but it’s certainly far from perfect…

That’s all for this week!

Got news, events, or jobs? Hit reply - we love spotlighting what's happening across Aotearoa!

Until next week,

👋 Mike & Erin