Mike Burgess
Director-General of Security of Australia
2
APPEARANCES
2
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Sep 17, 2026
Mitchell Unlimited S01E10 - Mike Burgess
14:35

Neil MitchellHOST
we talk about the um rewriting the spy book and i was asking with artificial intelligence what's that done to the spy world
M
14:41Mike BurgessGUEST
well so firstly i'm an engineer so i kind of love the technology when you built your first computer i was early first year in uni so i was involved in computers as kind of as a high school student because my school got an apple 2e computer and only one sitting in the classroom and that's what got me into wanting to build computers Artificial intelligence, we assess and we call it HOT.
M
15:07Mike BurgessGUEST
There's a lot of hype around artificial intelligence, but there's a lot of opportunity and a lot of promise.
M
15:13Mike BurgessGUEST
But in all good things, there's a lot of downside and that's the threat bit that my agency has to focus on.
M
15:18Mike BurgessGUEST
But what does it mean for everyday Australians? So artificial intelligence can help spies spy better and at scale, but it can also help spies stop spies from spying.
34 MINS LATER
ASIO boss concerned Australians could be killed by foreign governments
0:52
1:01
1:09
1:14
4:41
Mike BurgessGUEST
So my concerns are it doesn't tell the full story, so probable means a greater than 50% chance that in the next 12 months someone will advocate or undertake an act of terror.
Mike BurgessGUEST
Um, the problem with the m- level is the next level up is expected, so we and the police need intelligence that says someone is about to undertake an attack.
Mike BurgessGUEST
Of course, the level would go up, but at that point, police would be going to the front door to stop that attack.
Mike BurgessGUEST
Um, I'm concerned about the temperature and trajectory, so within the band of probable, the increase, um, for violence has actually happened and is happening, and that concerns me, so I'm worried that probable by itself does not send the message to all of us that need to know what the threat that we're facing.
Mike BurgessGUEST
So coerced repatriation is when a foreign regime puts pressure on an individual in Australia, an Australian citizen, permanent resident or visa holder, to return to their country of birth, um, to face some charge of allegation or something.