Speaking at the National Press Club in Canberra on Thursday, the former Labor leader said the myth of Australia being the "lucky country" had passed its use-by date.
"We are now on borrowed time," he said.
"I still hear Australians consoling themselves with the view that we punch above our weight. The truth is it's a long, long time since we did."
AI had "profound" national security implications for Australia and the nation needs to accelerate its development, Dr Rudd said.
"Otherwise, we will not have the indigenous capability here to build the cyber defences we need against that which will be thrown against us," he said.
The AI boom has led to predictions of an entry-level jobs apocalypse, but in some sectors the technology is more likely to increase junior white-collar roles.
While generative AI could automate some roles, other knowledge-based roles were more likely to be augmented than replaced, SEEK chief economist Blair Chapman said.
"AI may be increasing demand for junior workers in some white-collar roles, particularly where it helps workers do tasks more effectively rather than replacing them outright," Dr Chapman said.
Dr Chapman used SEEK job ad data and AI exposure measures from Jobs and Skills Australia to determine which occupations would be augmented by AI and which roles would be automated.
Because the rise of mechanisation and computerisation has already reduced the share of employment in routine jobs, generative AI is most likely to have an early observable impact on non-routine cognitive roles.
Jobs that rely on language, analysis, communication or judgment are more likely to be impacted.
SEEK job ads mentioning AI-related skills grew strongest in IT, marketing and consulting between 2019 and 2026. Health care, construction and hospitality were largely unaffected.
Swiss banking giant UBS recently included questions about AI fluency in graduate recruitment interviews, becoming one of the first major financial institutions to stipulate AI literacy skills for entry-level roles, according to a report in the Financial Times.
Of the top 15 non-routine cognitive occupations in Australia in 2025, only software and applications programmers had an automation exposure above 60 per cent.
It recorded a 0.3 percentage-point decline in the early-career share of job ads.
At the other end of the spectrum, electronics engineers had an augmentation exposure score of 76 per cent and an automation exposure of 34 per cent.
Other jobs with relatively high augmentation exposure and relatively low automation exposure included civil engineers, advertising professionals and construction managers.
9°C