It is easy to imagine teaching people how to begin a new career when the field they will be entering is already established. But when it is so new that many sectors of the market don't even understand it themselves, what do you do?

It's a question research fellow Dr Amy McLennan from ANU's 3A Institute has likely thought a lot about. She helps run a new masters program in the field of artificial intelligence.

"Many people think of the future as a thing that's 'out there'. We think of it [in terms of] 'everything we do today is building the future'. We can't necessarily predict it but we can create it … how do we imagine the future, talk about it and build for it?" she says.

Research fellow Dr Amy McLennan from ANU’s 3A Institute.

For Dr McLennan, this isn't a conversation that should only involve the technically minded.