The Australian Financial Review (AFR) Magazine’s Power List has named prime minister Anthony Albanese as Australia’s most powerful person.
Trade Minister Don Farrell has vaulted to the top of the list of covert power players, while Matilda’s captain Sam Kerr is the most powerful cultural influence in the nation.
Images of all three have been created for the magazine through artificial intelligence: the Prime Minister is depicted deejaying, Farrell is shown meeting with aliens, and Kerr is seen holding a World Cup trophy. Other Power Listers depicted through AI in the magazine include the new Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock, opposition leader Peter Dutton, ACTU secretary Sally McManus, chair of News Corp and Fox Corporation Lachlan Murdoch, cricket captain Pat Cummins and actor Margot Robbie.
AFR Magazine editor Matthew Drummond, said: “It’s been almost a year since the release of ChatGPT which heralded that the AI-revolution has well and truly begun.”
“In addition to taking photographs of the people who appear on our Power lists, we figured it was timely to use AI to generate images of them as well. In this way the issue reveals how far this rapidly-evolving technology has come.”
The split-run gatefold cover features both a portrait of the prime minister – taken for the issue – and a fake image generated by AI. Some readers will have the real photo on the cover, while others will see the AI image first.
Drummond said: “All of our AI images are clearly labelled as such and while they’re not perfect likenesses, the likeness is often uncanny. The potential for misuse of AI to generate fake images of famous and powerful people is an emerging risk, especially in today’s image-led culture where so much information is consumed quickly on social media. Perhaps this issue will spur on business leaders, cultural leaders and politicians to think more urgently about those risks, and what can be done to reduce them.”
The AFR Power List consists of three main categories – Overt, Covert and Cultural – which are debated at length by two separate panels of well-connected insiders drawn from Australia’s political, business and cultural spheres.
AI-generated photo of Anthony Albanese
The AFR magazine’s Power Panel placed treasurer Jim Chalmers in second place on the Overt List, and Foreign Affairs Minister, Penny Wong third. ACTU Secretary Sally McManus is ranked fourth, illustrating the power the trade movement has within the government.
New Reserve Bank governor, Michele Bullock is ranked fifth, while newcomer Noel Pearson is eighth, highlighting his influence in the lead up to the referendum.
Trade minister, Don Farrell, takes out the top spot on the Covert List, followed by Albanese’s chief of staff, Tim Gartrell. Debuting on the Covert List are Macquarie Group’s CEO Shemara Wikramanayke, finance minister Katy Gallagher and mining magnate Gina Rinehart.
Panellists who decided the Overt and Covert Lists were Joel Fitzgibbon and Christopher Pyne – both former ministers – Scott Morrison’s former private secretary, Yaron Finkelstein, company directors, Yasmin Allen and Nicola Wakefield Evans, pollsters Sue Vercoe and Anthony Reed, data strategist, Annie O’Rourke, and Labor insiders Ryan Liddell and Lidija Ivanovski.
The panel that decided the Cultural Power list included Warner Music Australasia president, Dan Rosen, Foxtel’s Chief content and commercial officer, Amanda Laing, Ogilvy Australia’s head of culture and influence Liana Rossi, Adelaide Writers’ Week Director, Louise Adler and Powerhouse Museum’s CEO, Lisa Havilah.
Leading the Cultural Power list is Matilda’s superstar striker Sam Kerr, followed by actor and star of the Barbie movie, Margot Robbie. Prominent coalition senator Jacinta Price and independent senator Lidia Thorpe feature in the Top 10 alongside musician Troye Sivan, television presenter Tony Armstrong and Bluey creator Joe Brumm.
Real photo of Anthony Albanese
OVERT LIST
1. Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese
2. Federal Treasurer, Jim Chalmers
3. Foreign Minister, Penny Wong
4. ACTU Secretary, Sally McManus
5. Reserve Bank Governor, Michele Bullock
6. Defence Minister, Richard Marles
7. Greens Leader, Adam Bandt
8. Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton
9. Indigenous Leader, Noel Pearson
10. Crossbench Senator, Jacqui Lambie
COVERT LIST
1. Trade and Tourism Minister, Don Farrell
2. Prime Minister Chief of Staff, Tim Gartrell
3. Treasury Secretary, Steven Kennedy
4. ALP National Secretary, Paul Erickson
5. Finance Minister, Katy Gallagher
6. Macquarie Group CEO, Shemara Wikramanayke
7. Secretary, Department of the Prime Minister, Glyn Davis
8. Commonwealth Bank CEO, Matt Comyn
9. Chair of News Corp and Fox Corporation, Lachlan Murdoch
10. Chair of Hancock Prospecting, Gina Rinehart
CULTURAL LIST
1. Matilda’s captain, Sam Kerr
2. Actor, Margot Robbie
3. Federal Arts Minister, Tony Burke
4. Coalition Senator, Jacinta Price
5. Independent Senator, Lidia Thorpe
6. Musician, Troye Sivan
7. Investigative journalist, Nick McKenzie
8. Television presenter, Tony Armstrong
9. Bluey creator, Joe Brumm
10. Australian Cricket Captain, Pat Cummins
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Top image: AI generated image on the left and a photo on the right