AI in intelligence analysis is going through its biggest shift in a decade.
ASPI’s Reading the Room report, supported by Fivecast and KPMG, examines how artificial intelligence is changing the way Australia’s National Intelligence Community produces, delivers and consumes intelligence, and sets out what agencies need to get right as AI moves from a productivity tool to a factor in how intelligence itself is made.
Fivecast worked alongside ASPI on a report examining how AI is reshaping the way Australia’s National Intelligence Community produces, delivers and consumes intelligence, and what that means for analysts, agencies and the officials who rely on their work.
What the report covers
AI in intelligence analysis: the production shift
AI is no longer just a tool analysts use to work faster.
- How AI is changing intelligence production, not only analysis
- Where automation genuinely speeds up tradecraft and where it doesn’t
- What this means for the workforce behind Australia’s intelligence output
Speed versus rigour
Faster is not the same as more trustworthy.
- The tension between AI generated speed and evidential rigour
- What decision makers risk losing when intelligence moves faster than it can be checked
- Where human judgement has to stay in the loop, and why
What consumers actually want
Intelligence products are only useful if the people receiving them can use them.
- Personalization and tailored delivery for different users
- The case for and against chatbot style intelligence interfaces
- Why accessible, well designed delivery is a strategic problem, not an afterthought.
Hear from the people behind the research
Fivecast’s Duane Rivett sat down with ASPI’s Chris Taylor to unpack the report findings, from AI personalised intelligence products to the limits of chatbot interfaces in high stakes decision making.
Episode: Reading the Room, with Chris Taylor and Duane Rivett.
Frequently asked questions
- What is ASPI’s Reading the Room report about?
- It examines how AI is changing the way intelligence gets produced, delivered and consumed across Australia’s National Intelligence Community. The report is supported by Fivecast and KPMG.
- Will AI replace intelligence analysts?
- No. The report argues for augmented intelligence, AI that gives analysts more signal and time, not artificial intelligence that replaces their judgement.
- Does labelling content as AI-generated change how much people trust it?
- Yes, and often not in AI’s favour. Research cited in the report shows a “synthetic authorship penalty,” where high-trust sectors like banks and airlines see the biggest drop in trust once people know AI was involved. The report names intelligence as exactly this kind of high-trust sector.
- What is open-source intelligence (OSINT)?
- OSINT is intelligence gathered from publicly available sources, including the surface, deep and dark web. You can read more here.
