Working to unlock value through AI

While our approach on the use of AI at South32 is developing, we are pursuing specific areas where we believe we can deliver both near- and long-term improvements, including:

• Safety risk management through learnings from events and investigations; 
• Production throughput, yields and blending enhancements; 
• Operational enhancements with sustainability-related benefits, such as reduced energy and water consumption; 
• Exploration and orebody knowledge to improve speed and efficiency; and
• Workforce productivity through efficiency improvements from generative AI tools.

In FY24, our focus was primarily on machine learning/AI advisory systems, leading to the development of systems to support improved output and waste reduction at Australia Manganese and optimise energy usage at Cerro Matoso. Learn more about these initiatives at www.south32.net/Sustainability/Stories.

Our focus in FY25 includes using generative AI to drive improved safety outcomes and productivity, for example through the development of large language models to enhance interactions with safety data. We are also investigating the potential to use vision AI to reduce risk in vehicle interactions and the scaling of machine learning models to improve operational productivity across operations and projects.

While we believe our overall AI risk profile is currently low, we understand that this risk will increase over time as the use of AI evolves. We are working to assess and improve our AI-related controls and governance to support the safe and responsible use of AI in our business. In addition, we are evaluating our AI approach against external responsible AI frameworks to identify opportunities to further align to safe and responsible AI best practice.