AI Australia Podcast

Before ChatGPT changed everything, Arvind Jain was already four years deep into solving a problem every knowledge worker knows but no one had fixed: why is it so impossible to find anything at work? In this episode, the CEO of Glean, the enterprise AI platform used by some of the world's most iconic companies, takes us inside the founding story that started not in a garage, but in the wreckage of hypergrowth. When his previous company grew from 500 to 2,000 people in a single year, things started to break. Software releases stalled, teams lost each other, and the lowest-scoring question in their employee survey? Do I have the information I need to do my job? That moment of failure became a billion-dollar idea. Arvind opens up about his time in the early days of Google, co-founding Rubrik, and then walking away from success, again to build something that didn't exist yet. This one is for anyone who's ever wasted an afternoon searching for a file that should have taken 30 seconds to find.

Why are the world's most powerful executives "resting and vesting" in the corner instead of innovating? Dom Price joins the podcast to discuss the psychological warfare happening inside modern boardrooms. He breaks down his "Minus 1, 0, plus 1" framework, a strategic ladder for moving from fixing broken processes to discovering "net new" value that didn't exist two years ago. From the importance of human-in-the-loop coaching to the surprising power of storytelling in a digital age, Dom shares how to build a psychologically safe environment where experimentation is rewarded and AI becomes an amplifier for human genius, not a replacement for it.  Dom is a work futurist, formerly Atlassian's in-house team doctor, where he helped scale one of Australia's great tech success stories from 600 people to over 16,000. He's a director of Deloitte alumni, a TED speaker, a keynote provocateur who's taken his ideas across 53 countries and someone who genuinely believes that AI isn't our biggest challenge right now, people are. Dom is now a leader at Be Luminous, who are helping organisations spark movements, accelerate impact and unlock the full potential of their people. 

What if the knowledge locked inside the heads of the world's most elite scientists could be downloaded into a "nervous system" for everyone? Craig Rayner spent decades watching life-saving drugs fail simply because the right person wasn't in the room. Now, he's built a Peer Review Agent that mimics a full development committee with 95% accuracy. We discuss the white-knuckle ride of leaving a high-flying corporate career to democratize medicine, the "Kodak moments" facing the industry, and why he believes it is now "unethical" not to use AI to save lives. Oktopi's purpose is to democratise world-class drug development expertise: embedding it within human-guided, AI-enabled workflows and amplifying innovation through a connected global community.

Can AI truly understand the nuances of a busy commercial kitchen or a retail floor? Ciaran and Deepesh from Deputy join the podcast to discuss the journey of launching Deputy AI, an agentic framework designed specifically for the mobile-first, fast-paced world of frontline work. We delve into the Deputy's unique approach to early testing with customers, the challenges of driving AI literacy amongst non-desk workers, and why the next frontier of workforce management might be entirely voice-activated. Plus, hear about their personal "life-hack" AI agents: from managing global friend groups to optimising solar energy at home.

In the world of FinTech, there are those who talk about AI, and those who ship it. Tracy Moore, GM of AI and Data at MYOB, is firmly in the latter camp. In this episode, Tracy reveals how one of Australia's leading tech innovators is leveraging the latest in generative tech to solve the most enduring challenges for small businesses: time and cash flow. We explore the "AI Sandwich"—a framework for understanding that while the "filling" (the LLM) is exciting, the "bread" (data foundations and UX) is what actually determines success.  Tracy shares a masterclass in building a culture of "AI as a team sport," where cross-functional ambition meets practical execution. From managing parallel streams of "no-regrets" features to exploring the exciting white space of autonomous agents, this conversation is a roadmap for any leader looking to turn complex tech into beautiful, human-centric products. Tracy shares her personal experience of "Vibe Coding" as a modern love language, and why the secret to high-performing AI teams might actually just be... more cake. Key Takeaways: The 20/80 Rule: Why successful AI products are 20% technology and 80% organisational mindset. Building Beautiful UX: Moving beyond the chatbox to create intuitive, invisible AI experiences. The Power of Ambition: How MYOB's executive team set the tone for ambitious AI goals. Practical Guardrails: The importance of "Steel Threads" and rolling out agents gradually to ensure mission-critical accuracy.

We change things up in today's episode and grill two Mantel Leaders, Samuel Irvine Casey and Vihan Patel, who have been in the trenches over the past 12 months building AI and Agentic Solutions. They help us unpack 2025 and predict what 2026 will bring including: The ROI Reality Check: As the hype of 2025 settles, 2026 is framed as the year of accountability, where organisations must prove the economic value of their AI deployments. The Token Economy: we deep dive into the sustainability of AI costs, questioning whether Silicon Valley will continue to subsidise token prices or if costs will spike as models move into high-scale production. Knowledge Collapse & Ethics: We explore the risks of "AI feeding on AI," the potential loss of critical thinking as we increasingly rely on AI generated knowledge, and the importance of new Australian legislation regarding AI traceability. The AGI Debate: we question how imminent "Artificial General Intelligence," including how current progress is driven more by clever engineering and high token usage than a fundamental breakthrough in machine consciousness. If you want to hear more about Samuel's lessons learnt from building Agentic Systems take a look at his blog from 2025: https://mantelgroup.com.au/taking-agents-to-production-our-agentic-ai-approach/ 

Forget building dashboards! The CEO of ThoughtSpot reveals how conversational AI is killing traditional business intelligence and putting a personal, 24/7 data analyst on every employee's desktop. Are you ready to fire your dashboard and start talking to your data and can you trust the answer when you do? In this episode, we talk to Ketan Karkhanis the CEO of Thoughtspot, a former Salesforce and Cisco executive, who explains that "AI is the new BI," arguing that businesses should stop building dashboards and start having conversations with their data. He introduces ThoughtSpot's AI agent, which acts as a personal analyst that provides actionable insights (what, why, and what to do next), with a new "A-Team" of specialised BI agents coming soon. To address trust issues, we explore who you can use deterministic analytics and transparency to combat AI hallucinations and secure enterprise adoption. Ultimately, Keten stresses that successful AI integration—like automating data modeling or transforming his own staff meetings—must be tied to clear corporate ROI and a culture that empowers change across the organization. Read Mantel's recent take on Natural Lanugage insight tools: https://mantelgroup.com.au/dashboards-natual-language-insights/      

Discover how Swimming Australia is diving deep into data and AI to secure Olympic gold! Today we chat to Jess Coronas, Head of Performance Insights at Swimming Australia, and discuss the digital transformation journey of Swimming Australia. From the initial ideation and data driven insights to the development of the groundbreaking Training Insights platform, powered by cutting edge computer vision techniques. Learn why human-in-the-loop AI is crucial for coach buy-in, how data creates a competitive edge, and the future vision for scaling analytics from the 50m sprint to the 1500m race. It's a masterclass in applying design thinking and marginal gains to a high-stakes, world-class sporting environment. Learn more about Mantel and AWS partnering to support Swimming Australia and their Training Insights platform:

What does factory floorplan design during the Industrial Revolution have to do with re-imagining user experiences in the ages of AI? In today's episode, we chat to Dr. Haijun Xia, an assistant professor at UC San Diego and Director of the Foundation Interface Lab, discussing the intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). Dr. Xia, whose work focuses on developing foundational interfaces for the future information environment, explains HCI in simple terms and outlines the criteria for a good user experience, emphasising the need for interfaces that leverage and amplify human cognitive abilities while introducing new capabilities smoothly. We discuss the shift from "one-size-fits-all" interfaces to adaptive and personalised experiences driven by AI and how large language models, allow users to interact at a higher level, simply stating their problem instead of manually performing low-level system manipulations. The conversation delves into the future of product design, including the prospect of personal AI agents that interact with software via APIs on the user's behalf, creating a "digital version of ourselves" and influencing how new products must be designed for both humans and agents.  To find out more about Mantel's partnership with Dr Haijun Xia and download our recent white paper: https://mantelgroup.com.au/mantel-partners-with-ux-leader-and-expert-dr-haijun-xia-to-advance-next-generation-ai-experiences/ Want more detail on Mantel's Exec AI Literacy, visit our website: https://mantelgroup.com.au/ai-executive-literacy-program/  

Join us for a conversation with Sharryn Napier, Vice President for APAC at GitHub, as she discusses leading the company's strategic direction and business growth across the region. Sharryn talks to GitHub's evolution from a code storage platform to the world's leading platform for building software with AI, now supporting over 150 million developers. The episode explores the democratising power of AI in software development, through tools like GitHub Copilot, which lowers the barrier to entry (even for non-coders) and addresses challenges like the language barrier in coding for non-native English speakers. We discuss how enterprise customers, like the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), are leveraging AI coding agents to manage and refactor significant legacy tech debt, seeing projects completed in a fraction of the time. She highlights that the "risk of not moving fast enough" with AI is now a greater concern than the risk of adoption. The discussion also delves into regional challenges, particularly Australia's flatlining productivity and the tech skills gap. Sharon advocates for AI as a mechanism to work "smarter" and compete globally. She also addresses the future of the developer role, viewing AI as a tool for augmentation, not replacement, that handles tedious tasks, increasing developer happiness, creativity, and shifting the role toward that of an orchestrator.

In this episode, we talk with David Hyman, CEO and co-founder of Lendi Group, the company behind Australia's leading digital mortgage brand, Lendi, and the iconic Aussie franchise. David shares his journey from founding Lendi in 2013 with a vision for digital-first mortgages, to the acquisition of Aussie Home Loans, and the launch of the company's "find, buy, and own" property ecosystem. We chat to David about Lendi Group's bold move to become an "AI-native" business by 2026. David explains that this isn't just about using AI tools, but about fundamentally redesigning the business to be built on an agentic-first model, which he likens to moving from human motion to "agentic motion." He discusses the challenges of this transformation, particularly the people side of change, highlighting the need for C-suite leadership and radical transparency. David also provides key insights for business leaders, emphasising that you can't have a separate AI and business strategy—they must be one and the same. He shares his thoughts on the future of AI-native businesses, the potential risks of this approach, and personal use of AI tools, including an AI-powered life coach and a health diagnostic tool.

In this episode of the AI Australia podcast, hosts Kat and Emma speak with David Brudenell, Executive Director of Decidr, an Australian AI software company. David, a veteran of the tech and venture capital sectors, shares his journey into AI, beginning with a "human-in-the-loop" product he co-founded in 2012. The conversation covers the state of AI today, with David likening the current landscape to the "Palm Pilot era"—a time of remarkable technology being used in the wrong way. He explains that businesses are trying to fit probabilistic AI tools into deterministic, human-centric workflows, leading to inefficiencies. David also discusses his recent research on AI readiness in Australia, revealing that while 83% of businesses see AI as important, less than half are actively implementing it. He attributes this to factors like analysis paralysis and concerns about costs and the rapid pace of model updates. He also advises leaders to treat their AI strategies like "ice cream in the sun," as they will quickly become outdated.

In a world where nearly half of Australians have adopted generative AI, traditional marketing is being reshaped. This episode features Celia Harding, an expert in Language Engine Optimisation (LEO), who explains why brands must adapt their strategies to be visible in AI-generated answers. We discuss the differences between LEO and SEO, how various AI models like Gemini and ChatGPT have unique "personalities" that influence their search results, and why third-party endorsements are more crucial than ever. We also explore the coming wave of "agentic commerce," where AI will make purchases on our behalf, and what brands need to do now to prepare.   If you're interested in finding out more on LEO or LEOPRD....   Download LEOPRD's Reputation to Revenue Report, your roadmap to mastering brand visibility in the age of AI.  Connect with Celia Harding on Linkedin.      Click here to find out more on Mantel and our Executive AI literacy program 

In this episode, we chat with Professor Wil van der Aalst, the "Godfather of Process Mining." He's the brains behind a multi-billion dollar industry that started 25 years ago in his quest to understand what organisations are actually doing, not just what they think they're doing. Wil dives into why he believes companies need to use process mining to get their houses in order before throwing AI at their problems. Using real-world examples—from streamlining a sales process to solving flight delays at an airport—he shows how this tech uncovers hidden inefficiencies and bottlenecks. He also shares his thoughts on why Australia is slower at adopting process mining, even with great research happening in local universities. A key takeaway? Transparency is crucial, but it requires top-down support to overcome resistance to change.

In this episode, May Lam, Chief Information Officer at Australian Payments Plus, shares her incredible journey from a software engineer tackling Y2K bugs to a leading voice in payments and AI. Drawing on her extensive experience across banking, FinTech, and the public sector, May unpacks the transformative power of AI in the financial industry. She outlines three key pillars of opportunity: the "internet of me" for hyper-personalisation, the "economy of we" for shared growth, and the "power of now" for instant, trustworthy services. May also discusses the crucial need for robust AI guardrails, emphasising the importance of data governance, holistic ethical frameworks, and a national strategy to navigate the risks. She provides insights on how AI is projected to impact the Australian economy, predicting a significant shift in the job market by 2030. Highlighting the importance of fostering critical thinking and self-confidence in the next generation, she offers a compelling vision for how we can use AI as a companion and a tool to enhance human capabilities, rather than replace them.

Highlights from Databricks Data and AI Summit 2025   In this special episode of the AI Australia podcast, Kathryn Collier and Emma Bromet report live from the Databricks Data and AI Summit 2025 in San Francisco. The summit which attracts 22,000 attendees to the city and 65,000 in total making it one of the largest Data and AI conferences globally.  The pervasive theme this year was "Data Intelligence" which can be distilled to the democratisation of data and AI – a clear strategic move to bridge the gap between business needs and the complex reality of end-to-end development of AI solutions. We cover off highlights and insights from all the key accouncements including Databricks Free Edition, Lake Base, Databricks Apps, and Agent Bricks, all focused on democratizing data and AI.    Featuring interviews with Simon Johnson, AI Director for APAC at Databricks, and David Schneeberger, Principal Engineer at Mantel who provide in-depth perspectives on these innovations and their implications for the future of Data and AI.

How AI is Reshaping Customer Expectations & Driving Business Value with Sandy Iyer (General Manager, Data Science at Sportsbet) Join your hosts Emma Bromet and Kathryn Collier as they chat with Sandy Iyer, a leading data and analytics executive, currently General Manager of Data Science at Sportsbet. With a career spanning energy retail, financial services, and wagering, Sandy brings a wealth of experience to the conversation. In this insightful episode, Sandy discusses: The Evolving Customer Landscape: How AI has profoundly shifted customer expectations, moving beyond just quality to demand instant gratification, personalised experiences, and ethical brand practices. Practical AI for Business Value: Discover compelling examples of AI in action, from L'Oréal's virtual makeup try-ons to advanced sports analytics. Measuring AI's Impact: Sandy shares a unique five-dimensional framework for evaluating the effectiveness of AI and machine learning models, ensuring they deliver real business value and are trustworthy. Cutting Through the Hype: Learn best practices for businesses to maximise AI ROI, including the importance of an "AI-enabled business strategy" over a standalone "AI strategy," and how to move effectively from Proof of Concept (POC) to Proof of Value (POV) and production. Building Customer-Facing AI: Sandy offers critical advice for developing successful AI products, emphasising the importance of product-market fit, ROI pragmatism, and continuous experimentation. Tune in to gain valuable insights from one of Australia's top analytics leaders and understand how to navigate the rapidly evolving AI revolution.

Because we loved talking to Roo and Danielle SO much in our last episode, we are delighted to bring you another installment of that conversation. In this episode of the A.I. Australia podcast, Kobi and Nat host Roo Harris from Scale Investors and Danielle Haj-Moussa from Main Sequence Ventures to continue our discussion on responsible AI investment in startups.   We explore critical topics such as the importance of responsible AI practices, the challenges startups face in integrating AI, and the role of VCs in setting ethical standards.   The conversation also covers the significance of early-stage AI due diligence, the benefits of explaining AI technologies accurately, and how embracing ESG (environmental, social, and governance) principles can add value.   Key issues such as AI's environmental impact, transparency, and the role of regulation in AI development are also discussed.   Links: Danielle Haj-Moussa (Main Sequence Ventures) Roo Harris Scale Investors  

In this episode of This Week in AI brought to you by the AI Australia podcast, Kobi and Natalie dive into wide-ranging discussions covering recent political events, traversing: The implications of the French and UK election outcomes, and their relation to technology. AI's role in the U.S. presidential elections Tech sector developments like Meta's Llama models, and the economic and environmental impact of AI advancements The intersection of AI with job markets, wealth distribution, and universal basic income studies, while also considering the cultural and ethical impacts of technological integration in corporate settings The recent global technology outage caused by CrowdStrike on Microsoft Windows Links: The Grimy Residue of the AI Bubble Toby Murray: What really happened at CrowdStrike... Business Insider: CrowdStrike CEO Has Twice Been at the Centre of Global Tech Failure Lawfare: The CrowdStrike Outage and Market-Driven Brittleness

This episode of AI Australia features a discussion with Danielle Haj-Moussa, a deep-tech investor at Main Sequence Ventures, and Roo Harris, a partner at Scale Investors. The conversation spans the different investment types, the importance of inclusive and ethical AI, and the differences between deep tech and general tech. Danielle shares insights into Main Sequence's focus on decarbonisation, industrial productivity, and the commercialisation of groundbreaking research. Roo discusses Scale Investors' mission to fund female-led startups across diverse sectors, emphasising the need to support underrepresented voices in innovation. Both speakers explore the evolving landscape of AI, the impact of democratising AI through open-source models, and the critical role of diverse and ethical investment in shaping the future. We hope you enjoy this thought-provoking conversation as much as we enjoyed having it - we enjoyed it so much we have decided to make this a two-parter and delve even deeper into this topic in our next episode. Links: Danielle Haj-Moussa (Main Sequence Ventures) Roo Harris Scale Investors  

We're back after a bit of hiatus, and a rebrand - the AI Australia podcast is now brought to you by Mantel Group (formerly a house of brands including eliiza). This was recorded a couple of weeks ago, which is a lifetime in this age of AI, but hopefully you still enjoy the conversation as much as Nat & Kobi enjoyed having it. In this episode of 'This Week in AI', we discuss the continued rapid developments in AI, such as: The lack of transparency and accountability within organisations like OpenAI, which led to significant internal conflicts and questionable practices such as unauthorised voice usage and staff contract clawbacks. The broader implications of AI on personal identity, regulation, and the importance of maintaining ethical standards in the industry. We address the global impact of political developments and election outcomes influenced by AI, as well as the real-world consequences of algorithmic manipulation in social media.  We highlight the necessity for greater transparency, robust governance frameworks, and regulatory actions to ensure AI technologies are developed and utilized responsibly. Look out for our upcoming episode(s?) on how AI is shaping the Venture Capital landscape today.

We have rebranded! The AI Australia is now brought to you by Mantel Group (Eliiza's parent company).  Please join us this week as we discuss AI in education with Professor Andrew Maynard from the Arizona State University. Andrew's fascinating takes from the front line of educating in the age of AI show a vision of the future and interrogates some of the common misconceptions of AI in education.

Welcome back to the AI Australia podcast for 2024, with your hosts Natalie Rouse and Kobi Leins. We are joined by two experts in the field of cybersecurity - "The Voice of Cyber" multimedia journalist Karissa Breen and internationally recognised cyber law expert Emma (EJ) Wise. We start off learning about Aboriginal Birthing Trees, then talk about the ethics of self-driving cars, international regulation & frameworks, education, the use of autonomous technology in the military, cyber law, the use of AI in manipulating upcoming elections, information warfare, the naming of the Russian hacker responsible for the Medibank hack, and the opportunity for AI to drive innovation on both sides of the fence - for organisations protecting themselves and for hackers. We make it clear we do not condone cyber criminality! Unfortunately we did lose the last half of EJ's audio, which is a technical travesty because she did have many fascinating things to say - we will get her back to share more of her great thoughts and experiences at a later date.    Links: Karissa Breen Emma (EJ) Wise Aboriginal Birthing Tree Missy Cummings on Tesla Autopilot Automating the Banality and Radicality of Evil Moral Machine  

In our last episode for 2023, Kobi & Nat discuss the following recent developments around the world and how they relate to Australia: The EU AI Act, which has made it another step closer to reality, albeit with some conditions for regulating foundation models that not everyone is happy with. Kobi has been reading Nancy Levison's new book, which looks at large historical accidents and unpacks what that looks like from a human perspective. We wonder how the Act will plug into the new international standards coming out, and whether that might result in some more granular teeth for the Act. Microsoft has been quietly talking to industrial organisations in the US, leading us to wonder how the Hollywood Writer's strike will impact other union negotiations around the world. The attribution of job losses to AI or automation is proving difficult, and will make future union negotiations even more interesting. Kobi talks about the history and evolution of boards over time, which leads us to circle back to the Open AI board purging and reflect on recent information that has come out about why exactly Sam Altman was fired in the first place.

This week join Kobi and Natalie as they discuss some perhaps seemingly-unrelated global trends, and ponder how AI may or may not impact or amplify them in the future. We raise questions about: There are around 40 upcoming elections happening around the world in 2024; have we already seen advancements in AI play a role in driving a shift to the right, and what might we expect to see in the next year? There is a trend where local media is becoming increasingly scarce - what does that mean for our local collective understandings & conversations, and global polarisation? The lack of diversity (gender and otherwise) in technology media (and the technology industry in general) presents a major hurdle for language models of the future as it leads to a lack of variety in the type of voices on record today, and hence in training data tomorrow.  Links: Where are all the godmothers of AI? In the Guardian A 'Trump moment' in the Netherlands shows that Europe still has a populist problem - CNN Brace for elections: 40 countries are voting in 2024 - Bloomberg The Guardian view on local journalism's decline: bad news for democracy

This week in AI has been a week like no other - join Natalie & Kobi to mull over the back and forth at OpenAI over the last week as we delve into what happened and what might it all mean. We are saddened about the departure of all the women on the OpenAI board, but wonder if the previous academic-focussed board had found themselves out of their depth as the value of the company grew. We are more than a little curious about the eventual movie that will no doubt be made about this highly dramatic saga! We also talk about the importance of governance around not just data but AI, including processes & accountability rather than just technical aspects. No links this week because there is not enough space on the internet to link to all of the articles covering the happenings of this last week.

Welcome to another episode from the AI Australia podcast, with your hosts Natalie Rouse and Kobi Leins. Continuing the conversation from our last interview on the importance of Indigenous data rights, this time we cross the ditch to Aotearoa New Zealand, discussing Maori data sovereignty and artificial intelligence with three special guests: Megan Tapsell, Associate Professor Maui Hudson, and Dr Karaitiana Taiuru. They discuss their roles and responsibilities in advocating for indigenous data rights, the challenges and opportunities they face in this area, and the importance of data sovereignty for Maori communities. Towards the end, they call upon corporations to involve and fairly pay Indigenous people when working with data that impacts their communities. Apologies for some audio quality issues at times - we experienced some technical difficulties in recording, but are very pleased to be able to bring you most of what we felt was an important & valuable conversation. Links: Megan Tapsell on Linkedin Maui Hudson on Linkedin Karaitiana Taiuru on Linkedin

We're back! After a brief hiatus, Natalie and Kobi talk about some of the recent developments around the legal world with union agreements and lawsuits due to set some initial precedents in different areas. They talk about the Hollywood Writers strike and the agreement that was reached including use of AI, as well as covering some of the legal action in progress at the moment around IP ownership, copyright and the updated Privacy Act recommendations. They also touch on the right to be forgotten, and the difficulty applying that within vast training data sets. Natalie attended the Aotearoa NZ AI Summit, and covers some of the guardrails & principles that were discussed.  Kobi talked about globally the guardrails and principles that will come out of the UN. She also shared a story about Studio Ghibli's director, Hayao Miyazaki's reaction to unthoughtful use of AI in his company. Links: Anna Johnston summarises the Privacy Act proposals on Salinger Privacy Hayao Miyazaki on the use of AI

It's no secret that AI is enhancing efficiency across nearly every industry in the world today. Unsurprisingly, that includes dentistry and pathology detection. Khoa Le is the founder and CEO of Eyes of AI, which leverages the power of technology to detect, analyze, and diagnose dental X-Ray images. In this episode, he shares his story, from building his skillset to establishing the idea for Eyes of AI and serving his client base today. We touch on preparation and tracking results, discuss the tumultuous waters of navigating ethics and privacy, and explore the benefits of bringing such a high level of accuracy to differential diagnosis. Khoa gets candid about some of the biggest challenges he has faced while building his company and offers his perspective on the growing influence of AI in Australia and beyond. In closing, he shares his thoughts on the human element of the medical industry and why it will always be necessary. Tune in today to hear all this and more! Key Points From This Episode: Khoa Le's career trajectory which led to the founding of Eyes of AI. How Eyes of AI leverages the power of technology for detection, analysis, and diagnosis of dental X-Ray images. What Eyes of AI client base largely consists of. Forming the idea for the product. The company flagship: 3D images.  Preparation and results. Navigating ethics and privacy by using de-identified data. Benefits of the 95% accuracy. What the output provides and why it cannot be considered a final diagnosis. The biggest challenges Khoa has faced in getting Eyes of AI off the ground. His perspective on how the AI industry is growing in Australia. Why a personal connection will always be relevant to the medical field. Links Mentioned in Today's Episode: Khoa Le on LinkedIn Eyes of AI on Instagram Eyes of AI Eyes of AI Journal Natalie Rouse on LinkedIn Dr Kobi Leins Dr Kobi Leins on LinkedIn Dr Kobi Leins on Twitter Eliiza  

This week in AI, Natalie and Kobi talk about the global progress on the regulation conversation, and the potential for a global governing body for AI.  They talk about the EU AI Act which has passed another major milestone, and hypothesise about the impact of commercial interests on the effectiveness of that. There was also a senate hearing in the US that Sam Altman (OpenAI) and Gary Marcus (NYU) attended, where they proposed a collaborative international body bringing together academics and the public rather than just corporate/tech interests.  President Biden has also announced a task force investigating the impact of social media on young people. Kobi wonders if some of these things might be a distraction from some of the most important issues, like climate change and the impact of these models and equipment on the environment.  Meta have declared that generative AI is already dead as they go all in on the next generation of AI that is better able to take logic and reasoning into account; however Meredith Whitaker (Signal) has said that while the "godfathers of AI" talk about x-risk (existential risk), they are not talking about a-harms (actual harms), which conveniently means they don't have to take immediate mitigating actions.  Links: EU AI Act Explained Yann LeCun of Meta declares generative AI already obsolete Meredith Whittaker on AI Panic in Slate  

It is long overdue that we, as organisations, and people in organisations, start to question our own thinking. And as a global society need to move toward making a systemic paradigm shift when it comes to Indigenous research and all that it encompasses. Today, we are joined by a very special guest, Distinguished Professor Maggie Walter, coming to us today from Nipaluna, Tasmania. Maggie is a Palawa woman who descends from the Pairrebenne people of north-eastern Tasmania and is also a member of the Tasmanian Briggs Family. She is a Distinguished Professor Emerita of Sociology at the University of Tasmania and is still heavily involved in Indigenous data sovereignty space and anything Indigenous data related. Join our very timely conversation as Maggie takes us on a deep dive into Indigenous data sovereignty 101, the two sides of data collection, and the problem with AI and using existing data sets. We talk about different challenges with funding and how there is a massive requirement for a paradigm shift in Indigenous research. This is a loaded episode with great points of conversation including a global look at relationships with indigenes, why presuming research equals change is dangerous, and why Maggie is more after ontological disturbance rather than money and time. You don't want to miss this episode, so start listening, and join the conversation. Key Points From This Episode: An introduction to Maggie Walter, a Palawa woman and descendent of the Pairrebennes. Maggie runs us through Indigenous data sovereignty 101.  The statistical indigene and what colonisation has done to us.  She explains the two sides of data collection. (7:50) The problem with AI and using existing data sets: we always end as the problem.  Thoughts on levers and tools aimed at shifting and solving the Indigenous data problem. The starting point, humans, and why AI is scary as it relates to Indigenous data (collection). She shares the challenges faced with Indigenous data collection.  The challenges with funding and the required paradigm shift for Indigenous research. Why Indigenous research projects can't be concentrated in health and should diversify. Her encouragement to challenge and flip mindsets with relationships to first peoples. We take a global look at other countries and their relationships with Indigenous peoples.  The danger of presuming research equals change.  Maggie divulges why she doesn't do advisory committees anymore.  The need for ethics codes.  Why systemic change can only be done in increments. A discussion on who owns Indigenous data and the benefits, or lack thereof, of AI. Maggie tells us why she's after ontologic disturbance rather than money and time. Links Mentioned in Today's Episode: Maggie Walter on LinkedIn UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Closing the Gap Memorandum Professor Sally Engle Merry AIATSIS Code of Ethics 2020 Natalie Rouse on LinkedIn Dr Kobi Leins Dr Kobi Leins on LinkedIn Dr Kobi Leins on Twitter Eliiza  

Eliiza is teaming up with Jewelrock and Women in AI APAC to run a limited interview series in support of the Women in AI Awards 2023. The series will showcase conversations with a number of thought leaders and subject matter experts across industry and academia in Australia and New Zealand on topics like career, the future of AI technologies and the responsible application of AI. Our esteemed guests are all representing sponsors of the Women in AI Awards, which will be held on 16th June in Sydney for the APAC region. Our next guest is Dr Ava Bargi, Data Science Tech Lead at the NSW Department of Customer Service. Bio: Ava is a Lead Data scientist (PhD) with technical Machine Learning (ML), people and community leadership focus in ML and data science. She is a seasoned data scientist and product lead, passionate about creative problem solving, impactful stakeholder engagement and social interactions, and focused on building ML solutions either individually or as a technical leader. Ava has pioneered the application of machine learning and data science to enhance NSW Planning processes, tackling challenges of modelling partial and unstructured data, with imbalance and quality issues, using ML techniques. Ava is an impactful Tech and people leader, spearheading in coaching a team of brilliant analysts to use advanced tools and build powerful NLP solutions. She is contributing to NSW government AI maturity by running "AiCoP", an AI community of practice across gov agencies and industries, successfully expanding and increasingly capturing more members and insightful presentations. Links: Dr Ava Bargi on Linkedin  

Eliiza is teaming up with Jewelrock and Women in AI APAC to run a limited interview series in support of the Women in AI Awards 2023. The series will showcase conversations with a number of thought leaders and subject matter experts across industry and academia in Australia and New Zealand on topics like career, the future of AI technologies and the responsible application of AI. Our esteemed guests are all representing sponsors of the Women in AI Awards, which will be held on 16th June in Sydney for the APAC region. Our next guest is Dr Muneera Bano, from CSIRO's Data61 within Diversity and Inclusion in AI. Bio: A passionate advocate for women in STEM, Muneera was announced as the 'Most Influential Asian-Australian Under 40' in 2019. A 'Superstar of STEM 2019' and member of the 'Equity, Diversity and Inclusion' committee of Science and Technology Australia, in 2021, Muneera was recognized by the Government of Pakistan Foreign Minister's Honour List as under-40 Pakistani-Australian leader in 'Science and Innovation' for her leadership and advocacy in diversity and inclusion in STEM in Australia. Muneera graduated from the University of Technology Sydney in 2015 with a Ph.D. in Software Engineering. She specializes in socio-technical domains of software engineering focusing on human-centered technologies. She was the recipient of Schlumberger's 'Faculty For The Future Award' for Women in STEM (2014 and 2015). Muneera was named as a finalist for 'Google Australia's Anita Borg Award for Women in Computer Science', Asia-Pacific 2015, and won the 'Distinguished Research Paper Award' at International Requirements Engineering Conference 2018. Muneera was offered Fellowship for 'Cultural Diversity and Leadership' at Sydney University's Business School in November 2019. She was selected for 'Pathways to Politics' by Melbourne University's School of Government to complete the leadership program in 2021. Links: Dr Muneera Bano on Linkedin Dr Muneera Bano at CSIRO

Eliiza is teaming up with Jewelrock and Women in AI APAC to run a limited interview series in support of the Women in AI Awards 2023. The series will showcase conversations with a number of thought leaders and subject matter experts across industry and academia in Australia and New Zealand on topics like career, the future of AI technologies and the responsible application of AI. Our esteemed guests are all representing sponsors of the Women in AI Awards, which will be held on 16th June in Sydney for the APAC region. Our next guest is Dr Tabinda Sarwar, Lecturer/ Early Career Development Fellow (ECDF) at RMIT. Bio: Tabinda Sarwar completed her PhD in Jan 2020 and currently, she is working as Early Career Development Fellow/Lecture at RMIT University.  Tabinda's areas of expertise include the application of machine learning and deep learning algorithms for data mining and analytics. She has worked on multiple digital health projects involving heterogeneous data sources (including imaging and free text data) for almost 7 years. This includes creating data-driven solutions for health deterioration detection and prediction for aged care homes in Australia, for which she received RMIT Award for Research Impact. She has worked in computational neuroscience, where she analysed the anatomical and functional behaviour of the human brain. T abinda is interested in the application of machine and deep learning in biomedicine and digital health for knowledge and information extraction to create high-quality solutions. Links: Dr Tabinda Sarwar on Linkedin Dr Tabinda Sarwar at RMIT

Eliiza is teaming up with Jewelrock and Women in AI APAC to run a limited interview series in support of the Women in AI Awards 2023. The series will showcase conversations with a number of thought leaders and subject matter experts across industry and academia in Australia and New Zealand on topics like career, the future of AI technologies and the responsible application of AI. Our esteemed guests are all representing sponsors of the Women in AI Awards, which will be held on 16th June in Sydney for the APAC region. Our next guest is Amanda Princi, Head of Data Enablement at Transurban. Bio: As the Head of Data Enablement, Amanda is responsible for driving data culture at Transurban. Amanda leads a team that enables people to easily manage data, confidently employ data use and maximise data's value in a safe, ethical way. Amanda is passionate about a workplace free from data jargon, where teams have positive data experiences and can embed data thinking into daily activities at any level of the organisation. Prior to Transurban, Amanda's career began as a Banker at National Australia Bank (NAB). Over 10 years, Amanda transformed her banking career into a data career, by leveraging data to help millions of customers and achieve significant impact. Amanda's determination to learn all things data and evangelise data use, led to Amanda holding multiple senior data leadership positions specialising in data analytics and insight, data management and governance. Links: Amanda Princi on LinkedIn

Eliiza is teaming up with Jewelrock and Women in AI APAC to run a limited interview series in support of the Women in AI Awards 2023. The series will showcase conversations with a number of thought leaders and subject matter experts across industry and academia in Australia and New Zealand on topics like career, the future of AI technologies and the responsible application of AI. Our esteemed guests are all representing sponsors of the Women in AI Awards, which will be held on 16th June in Sydney for the APAC region. Our next guest is Kelly Brough, Managing Director, ANZ Applied Intelligence at Accenture ANZ. Bio: Kelly leads the Applied Intelligence Network for Accenture ANZ. Responding to businesses increasingly turning to AI to enable their growth, productivity, and creativity, Kelly leads a talented team of strategists, scientists, and value innovators to support our clients in designing and executing data led transformations. She is passionate about the opportunities for society being unleashed by AI technologies and committed to focussing energy on the responsible application of AI to build trust and protect people and organisations while delivering new value outcomes. Kelly has over 25 years experience across both industry and consulting building digital and data businesses in the Retail, Media, and Technology sectors. Prior to joining Accenture, Kelly held executive roles including Chief Digital Officer at Sensis (Telstra), Global Digital Director at Lonely Planet, CEO Allegran Online Dating (Daily Mail), and Director at AOL Europe. Kelly has an MBA from INSEAD, an MS in Environmental Engineering from University of Virginia, and completed her undergraduate degree in Engineering Science at Harvard University. Links: Kelly Brough on Linkedin  

Eliiza is teaming up with Jewelrock and Women in AI APAC to run a limited interview series in support of the Women in AI Awards 2023. The series will showcase conversations with a number of thought leaders and subject matter experts across industry and academia in Australia and New Zealand on topics like career, the future of AI technologies and the responsible application of AI. Our esteemed guests are all representing sponsors of the Women in AI Awards, which will be held on 16th June in Sydney for the APAC region. Our next guest is Kendall Jenner, Research Assistant at STELaRLab, Lockheed Martin's first research laboratory outside of the US. Bio: As a Research Assistant, Kendall performs research into Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, investigating the latest developments in the field and how it can be applied to defence applications. Before entering the workforce, Kendall studied a Bachelor of Science in Theoretical and Experimental Physics at the University of Adelaide, followed by a Masters of Philosophy in machine learning for gravitational wave astrophysics (which is still currently ongoing) with OzGrav – the Australian Research CoE for Gravitational Wave Discovery. Since starting with STELaRLab and Lockheed Martin Australia in the Graduate Program early last year, Kendall has worked on a variety of projects. She has investigated using machine learning for prognostics and health management of aircraft, link prediction in knowledge graphs, creating simulated data for a variety of other projects in the lab, and processing of overhead imagery. She enjoys the variety of tasks that her and her team partake in, and find that the work she does at STELaRLaB is the perfect balance between interesting and exciting state-of-the-art research, and the applications and practicality of implementing new solutions. Kendall's first introduction to machine learning was during a research internship with the University of Adelaide High Energy Astrophysics group, where the group was tasked with using a random forest classifier to classify blazars, which are a type of active galaxy. This project piqued her interest in AI, and so she pursued a career in it, leading to some extra-curricular activities with Adept at the University of Adelaide, work experience and internships, choice of topic for her postgraduate research degree, and now to her current role with STELaRLab. Outside of work and university, Kendall is a professional footballer (soccer) for West Torrens Birkalla SC. She enjoys gardening, playing boardgames with friends, and generally doing outdoor activities. Links: Kendall Jenner on LinkedIn

This week in AI, Natalie and Kobi tackle some hefty potential societal impacts.    They talk about the strange proposition of a young woman "cloning" herself via chatGPT to outsource her "girlfriend experience"; to celebrated American science fiction writer Ted Chiang writing about whether AI is set to become something of a consultant or third party for problem solving; to ex-DeepMind co-founder Moustafa Suleyman calling on governments to find solutions for people who lose their jobs to AI, and the links between all of these activities. Links: https://fortune.com/2023/05/09/snapchat-influencer-launches-carynai-virtual-girlfriend-bot-openai-gpt4/ https://www.newyorker.com/science/allans-of-artificial-intelligence/will-ai-become-the-new-mckinsey https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-28/stage-three-tax-cuts-to-scale/102268304 https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/may/29/fully-automated-luxury-communism-aaron-bastani-review https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/06/give-us-fully-automated-luxury-communism/592099/

Eliiza is teaming up with Jewelrock and Women in AI APAC to run a limited interview series in support of the Women in AI Awards 2023. The series will showcase conversations with a number of thought leaders and subject matter experts across industry and academia in Australia and New Zealand on topics like career, the future of AI technologies and the responsible application of AI. Our esteemed guests are all representing sponsors of the Women in AI Awards, which will be held on 16th June in Sydney for the APAC region. Our next guest is Deborah Henderson, Data & Cloud Partner at KPMG Australia. Bio: Deborah is a Partner in KPMG Australia's Data and Cloud practice and has significant experience in technology specialising in data and analytics. She has worked internationally and locally in Australia, helping organisations across multiple industries lift their data and analytics maturity to enhance the value of their data assets. Deborah combines her vast technical background and experience in leading large scale data transformation programs across the public and private sectors and multiple industries to provide a holistic perspective on how organisations can drive value from data. Deborah is KPMG Australia's Data and Cloud Education sector lead,  and also heads up our ESG data offerings whilst continuing to deliver data services for clients in multiple industries. Deborah is recognised as a leader in delivering successful business outcomes across the entire data value chain from strategy through to implementation and has delivered keynotes at conferences and presented as a guest lecturer at some of the top universities in Australia.  Deborah leverages her expertise in using modern cloud technology and human centred design to uplift and transform data and analytics capability for our clients, helping them navigate complexity to extract more organisational value from the investments they make and close the gap from data to impact. She believes that organisations need to be data fit to be future smart and that those organisations poised to use evidence based practice to make informed decisions and inspire action will have a lasting and positive impact that enables people, organisations, and society to thrive. Links: Deborah Henderson on Linkedin Deborah Henderson at KPMG Australia

Eliiza is teaming up with Jewelrock and Women in AI APAC to run a limited interview series in support of the Women in AI Awards 2023. The series will showcase conversations with a number of thought leaders and subject matter experts across industry and academia in Australia and New Zealand on topics like career, the future of AI technologies and the responsible application of AI. Our esteemed guests are all representing sponsors of the Women in AI Awards, which will be held on 16th June in Sydney for the APAC region. Our next guest is Dr Irini (Rena) Logothetis, Research Fellow at the Applied AI Institute at Deakin University. Bio: From software development in Melbourne to managing an island hotel in Greece, showing designs at Fashion Week in Athens, to biomechanical engineering to medical and assistive technology research at an AI institute; Rena Logothetis has had an unconventional career path. Researcher - Deakin University's Applied AI Institute (A2I2) Specialising in system design and analysis, projects including: TR&R trauma support system in The Alfred Hospital Melbourne Development of a multi-use Smart Lab designed to test assistive technology to allow older people to live better, safer, longer lives at home A world-first autonomous wheelchair system A world-first falls prevention research project   PhD – Engineering Biomechanics Co-Founder & Managing Director, Avioti Fashion Ed in Athens, Greece Co-Founder & Managing Director of a hotel on the island of Lefkas, Greece Links: Dr Rena Logothetis on LinkedIn Dr Rena Logothetis at Deakin University

Eliiza is teaming up with Jewelrock and Women in AI APAC to run a limited interview series in support of the Women in AI Awards 2023. The series will showcase conversations with a number of thought leaders and subject matter experts across industry and academia in Australia and New Zealand on topics like career, the future of AI technologies and the responsible application of AI. Our esteemed guests are all representing sponsors of the Women in AI Awards, which will be held on 16th June in Sydney for the APAC region. Our next guest is Dr Yun Sing Koh, Associate Professor in the School of Computer Science at the University of Auckland. Bio: Dr Yun Sing Koh is an associate professor in the School of Computer Science at the University of Auckland, specializing in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). Currently, she holds the position of Director of the Centre of Machine Learning for Social Good. Her research mainly focuses on three areas: continual learning and adaptation, anomaly detection, and data stream mining. She applies her research to interdisciplinary applications in environment and health domains. Throughout her career, she has published more than 100 peer-reviewed publications in top conference venues such as IJCAI, IEEE ICDE, IEEE ICDM. She has also published in high-quality journals, including Machine Learning Journal and Journal of Artificial Intelligence, and has received numerous awards, such as the best paper award at the Australasian Artificial Intelligence Conference (2022, 2018), best research paper award at IEEE Data Science Advance Analytics (2022), and AUT University Vice-Chancellor Emerging Researcher Award (2009). Between 2012-2023, she secured various grants and contracts, including being a primary investigator for prestigious grants internationally and nationally, such as the New Zealand Royal Society of Fast-Start Marsden and Office of Naval Research Grant, US. Currently, she holds or is a part of 7 major grants as a principal or associate investigator. Yun Sing is currently a fellow for the 2023 Convergence Research (CORE) Institute funded by United States National Science Foundation. Aside from her research work, she has also been active in contributing to service and leadership roles in various organizations. She held the position of General Chair of the Australasian Data Mining 2022 and General Chair of the IEEE International Conference of Data Mining 2021. She also served as Program Committee Co-Chair for the Australasian Data Mining Conference 2018, Workshop and Tutorial Chair for European Conference of Machine Learning and Principles and Practice of Knowledge Discovery 2021, Publicity Chair at 24th ACM International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management 2015, and Workshop Co-Chair, Pacific-Asia Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining Conference 2011. Since 2018, she has been a steering committee member for the Australasian Data Mining Conference and is a senior program committee member for top conferences, including AAAI, IJCAI, PAKDD, and ECML. Links: Dr Yun Sing Koh on LinkedIn Dr Yun Sing Koh at the University of Auckland

Eliiza is teaming up with Jewelrock and Women in AI APAC to run a limited interview series in support of the Women in AI Awards 2023. The series will showcase conversations with a number of thought leaders and subject matter experts across industry and academia in Australia and New Zealand on topics like career, the future of AI technologies and the responsible application of AI. Our esteemed guests are all representing sponsors of the Women in AI Awards, which will be held on 16th June in Sydney for the APAC region. Our next guest is Aruna Kolluru, the Chief Technologist, Emerging Technology at Dell Technologies, Asia Pacific & Japan. Bio: Aruna Kolluru is the Chief Technologist for Emerging Technologies at Dell Technologies, Asia Pacific and Japan. In this capacity, she collaborates with organizations throughout the Asia-Pacific region to provide them with a comprehensive understanding of the potential of emerging technologies and how to conceptualize, create, and leverage these solutions to achieve tangible business outcomes. She is also a member National AI Centre, Australia, Think Tanks, providing expertise and insights on the topics of Responsible AI, Diversity and Inclusion in AI, and AI at Scale. She is also an Expert Advisor at Responsible AI Institute and a Technical committee member of TinyML Asia Pacific. Based in Sydney, Aruna is at the forefront of emerging technologies and has helped numerous companies build solutions with Artificial Intelligence, Digital Twins, Quantum Computing, Federated Learning, Big Data and other innovative technologies. She has 22 years of experience in the industry, covering a broad spectrum of technologies. Prior to her role at Dell Technologies, Aruna worked in various positions including Cloud Platforms Technologist, Big Data Technologist, Middleware Technologist, Java Architect and Presales specialist at both IBM and Oracle. Having worked across a variety of different technology areas, she appreciates facing new challenges and has enjoyed an ongoing learning process and new challenges. Her technical expertise coupled with her passion for educating and exciting others about new technology is what sets Aruna apart. She is an accomplished thought leader, passionate about intersection of business and technology opens in bettering business and society at large and is particularly interested in furthering the appetite for adoption of emerging technologies to achieve this. Her work on applying machine learning to optimise operational efficiency in data back-up systems has been patented. In addition, she has received and been shortlisted for several industry awards, recognising the work she had done to support customers across the APJ region. She is a co-author of the book 60 leaders in AI. Aruna is a speaker at AI conferences, round tables, podcasts, and several other events. Furthermore, she is an active mentor in the IT industry, frequently speaking at a variety of programs, including Dell Technologies' Girls in Engineering and Technology, the Dell and UTS partnership for Women in Action, AI Avengers program, the Dell Technologies Code like a Girl program and guest lectures at universities. Aruna holds a B.Tech in Computer Science and Systems Engineering from Andhra University in India, a masters degree in Software Systems from BITS, PILANI, India, and a Graduate Diploma in Management from the Australian Graduate School of Management. Aruna is a self-learner has completed extensive training programs and certifications to developed advanced technical skills and stay abreast with the latest. Links: Aruna Kolluru on Linkedin National AI Centre Think Tanks Responsible AI Institute TinyML Asia Pacific Applying machine learning to optimise operational efficiency in data back-up systems 60 Leaders in AI  

Eliiza is teaming up with Jewelrock and Women in AI APAC to run a limited interview series in support of the Women in AI Awards 2023. The series will showcase conversations with a number of thought leaders and subject matter experts across industry and academia in Australia and New Zealand on topics like career, the future of AI technologies and the responsible application of AI. Our esteemed guests are all representing sponsors of the Women in AI Awards, which will be held on 16th June in Sydney for the APAC region. Our latest guest is Malliga Krishnan from Capgemini. Bio: Malliga is the Data, Analytics and AI leader for Capgemini Australia and New Zealand.  Her in-depth knowledge and experience from over two decades in Technology Consulting sets the strong foundation for creating meaningful business impact through AI, data engineering and data platforms. Malliga is a strong advocate of building high-performing teams underpinned by empowerment, collaboration and diversity. Her passion for people and data anchor her unique perspectives on ethical and sustainable AI and its potential to revolutionise the world around us.

There have been several noteworthy developments in the world of AI this week, and in today's episode, we share our take on the good, the bad, and the WTF. We start off by discussing exciting developments at The Human Technology Institute and how their new project, The Future of AI Regulation in Australia, aims to help laws and regulations catch up with language learning models like ChatGPT. Next, we reflect on the tragic news of the first death directly linked to a chatbot, how little the public truly understands about these technologies, and what can be done to minimize these types of risks in future. Our conversation then delves into the proposed moratorium to halt the development of more sophisticated versions of ChatGPT and key concerns that are being raised around this topic. We also spend some time unpacking the problematic source behind this petition, namely, The Future of Life Institute, before discussing what experts like Emily M. Bender And Gary Marcus have to say about the topic. To learn more about this week in AI, including our top takeaways, be sure to tune in today!   Key Points From This Episode:   The Human Technology Institute's new project: The Future of AI Regulation in Australia. Reflections on the first tragic death directly linked to a chatbot. Our thoughts on the petition for a moratorium to halt the development of more sophisticated versions of ChatGPT. The problematic elements of the proposed moratorium, including its lack of boundaries and guardrails. A reminder of the controversial origins of the Future of Life Institute and why the fact that they are funding this petition should act as a warning sign. An overview of the discourse around this topic and our key takeaways. Why laws and regulations have failed to keep pace with the language learning models like ChatGPT. How the Human Technology Institute's new project aims to improve regulation, ensure more equitable distribution of wealth, and minimize the potential harm of these technologies. Links Mentioned in Today's Episode: 'Man ends his life after an AI chatbot 'encouraged' him to sacrifice himself to stop climate change' 'The first known chatbot associated death' 'Elon Musk Signs Open Letter Urging AI Labs to Pump the Brakes' 'The Future of AI Regulation in Australia'  Ed Santow on LinkedIn University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Human Technology Institute (HTI) Emily M. Bender Emily M. Bender on LinkedIn Emily M. Bender on Medium 'On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big?' 'Policy makers: Please don't fall for the distractions of #AIhype' The Future of Life Institute Natalie Rouse on LinkedIn Dr Kobi Leins Dr Kobi Leins on LinkedIn Dr Kobi Leins on Twitter Eliiza  

Eliiza is teaming up with Jewelrock and Women in AI APAC to run a limited interview series in support of the Women in AI Awards 2023. The series will showcase conversations with a number of thought leaders and subject matter experts across industry and academia in Australia and New Zealand on topics like career, the future of AI technologies and the responsible application of AI. Our esteemed guests are all representing sponsors of the Women in AI Awards, which will be held on 16th June in Sydney for the APAC region. Our first guest is Professor Ann Nicholson, the Dean of the Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University. Bio: Professor Nicholson graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Hons) and a Master of Science (Computer Science) from the University of Melbourne. In 1988, she was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford, where she completed her doctorate in the Robotics Research Group. She then undertook a postdoc at Brown University before returning to Australia to join Monash. Professor Nicholson is the first woman appointed into her prestigious role of Dean, Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University. She is a champion for greater Indigenous participation in her faculty and supports many initiatives to bring more girls and women into IT careers. Professor Nicholson is responsible for more than 200 staff, 5,400+ students and leading IT courses taught in Australia, Malaysia, China, Indonesia and South Africa. Joining the University in 1994, her leadership expertise is broad and diverse – garnered through a range of executive roles across education, research and industry, including Associate Dean (Education) and Deputy Dean (Research). A globally-esteemed specialist in Bayesian Networks, Professor Nicholson's research focuses on translational impact and social good, with cross-disciplinary collaborations in epidemiology, medicine, education, environmental science and meteorology. She has published more than 120 peer reviewed papers and co- authored the highly regarded 'Bayesian Artificial Intelligence' textbook. Her research has attracted over $12M in research funding, and has resulted in two start-up companies for technology transfer of Bayesian AI. Currently Professor Nicholson is the Honorary Secretary of the Victorian Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committee; a fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) and of the Computing Research and Education Association of Australasia (CORE) ; and a member of professional societies, ACM, IEEE and the IEEE Computer Society. She was a co-founder, inaugural president and long-term board member of ABNMS. Links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholsonann/ https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/ann-nicholson 

On this episode of AI Australia, we are going on the road! Join us as we go inside the National AI Centre (NAIC)'s inaugural AI Leadership Summit, held in Sydney in March. We hear from some of the leaders from NAIC, CSIRO and industry on the progress of NAIC's three think tanks (Responsible AI, Diversity & Inclusion in AI, and AI at Scale); the purpose of the summit; and how NAIC are aiming to bring together AI leaders across Australia under the banner of Responsible AI. NAIC director Stela Solar talks to us about the Responsible AI Network (RAIN) that was launched by Hon. Ed Husic MP on the day, and her plan for expanding the network across Australia, all while battling the challenges of recording in a bustling conference environment. Sending a huge thank you to all our wonderful guests who kindly took time out of their day to share their thoughts and experiences with us: Min Livanidis (https://www.linkedin.com/in/min-livanidis-a35b58ba/) Brendan Dalton (https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-dalton-560ab376/) Aruna Pattam (https://www.linkedin.com/in/arunapattam/) Cheng Soon Ong (https://www.linkedin.com/in/cheng-soon-ong-38bbb524/) Rita Arrigo (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rarrigo/) Judy Slatyer (https://www.linkedin.com/in/judyslatyer/) Aurelie Jacquet (https://www.linkedin.com/in/aurelie-jacquet-94b75638/) Stela Solar (https://www.linkedin.com/in/stelasolar/)   Key points from this episode: An introduction to the NAIC AI Leadership Summit with Natalie and Kobi What being part of the think tanks mean to several members Why the summit is so important How this group will help drive a more inclusive and responsible AI future for Australia The purpose of each think tank Stela shares the background of NAIC, the inception of the Think Tanks and the purpose of RAIN Closing comments from Kobi and Natalie   Links Mentioned in Today's Episode: https://www.csiro.au/naic https://www.csiro.au/en/work-with-us/industries/technology/National-AI-Centre/Responsible-AI-Network https://www.csiro.au/en/work-with-us/industries/technology/National-AI-Centre/NAIC-Think-Tanks

On this episode of AI Australia, we bring about an exciting topic and project being taken on by those at the children's charity Variety in collaboration with the data consultancy company Eliiza and not-for-profit service provider Data4Good to analyse data over the past several years to gain insights into where funding and grants are being distributed. We're joined on the podcast by Mandy Burns from Variety and Mahdi Rasouli from Eliiza. They share with us the story behind how they were connected through Data4Good and what the current decision-making process looks like for allocating grants at Variety. We hear all about the experience of working with Eliiza and the process of collecting, reviewing, and analysing the data. What's next for Variety and their work with Eliiza? Tune in to find out!    Key Points From This Episode: An introduction to Mandy Burns and the children's charity Variety. How they, at Variety, currently decide on where to allocate grants/ funds. How they were introduced to Eliiza by Data4Good.  A quick introduction to Mahdi Rasouli; part of the data science team at Eliiza Mandy shares the experience of working with Eliiza. The process of reviewing the data and what they wanted to do with it/ how to analyse it. The significance of Variety collecting, reviewing, and understanding the data. Working towards automation of data and decision-making.  The importance of having the why and understanding the scope of the issue.  Mandy shares some insights they got out of the exercise working with Eliiza. What's next for Variety and their work with Eliiza. How Mandy connected with Data4Good. The heart behind Variety.  Links Mentioned in Today's Episode: Mandy Burns on LinkedIn Mahdi Rasouli on LinkedIn Variety Data4Good 'Eliiza and Data4Good team up to decipher grants data for Variety' Natalie Rouse on LinkedIn Dr Kobi Leins  Dr Kobi Leins on LinkedIn Dr Kobi Leins on Twitter Eliiza  

We begin this week's discussion on all things AI and its developments over the past few days by talking about love and war. We chat about the Bing chatbot that declared its love for a New York Times reporter as well as concerns over the ease with which these systems can be turned hostile and spread harmful misinformation. This leads to a discussion on liability, governance, and how to hold companies responsible for the harm caused by their AI or algorithms. We also talk about language and how this may impact diversity and inclusion. Our hosts share their thoughts on the importance of being aware of the limitations of AI and keeping in mind that it functions as a mirror without an understanding that not everything online has equal weighting. Tune in to hear all of this as well as the developments we hope to see in AI in the near future.   Key Points From This Episode: The changes we've seen in AI in the past few days. Thoughts on the New York Times article about a chatbot that declared its love for a reporter. Concerns over getting these systems to spread misinformation or turning them hostile. Questions on liability and holding companies responsible for the harm caused by their AI or algorithms.  Coming back to the problem statement and questioning why you are using the services of a chatbot in the first place. Thoughts on language and how this will impact diversity and inclusion. The hype and how it creates market fluctuations. The importance of being aware of the limitations of AI. Developments our hosts hope to see in AI in the near future. Links Mentioned in Today's Episode: ChatGPT Is a Blurry JPEG of the Web  Two frightening things before breakfast Amazing "Jailbreak" Bypasses ChatGPT's Ethics Safeguards - Futurism.com AI Search Is a disaster As AI race heats up, let's pause and ask: "ChatGPT is the answer to what problem?"  Why the Tesla Recall Matters Getty Images Sues AI Art Generator Stable Diffusion for Copying Millions of Its Photos  Natalie Rouse on LinkedIn Dr Kobi Leins Dr Kobi Leins on LinkedIn Dr Kobi Leins on Twitter Eliiza  

As we continue our discussion on everything that has happened in the world of AI in the past week, we begin today's episode with what the public is currently saying about ChatGPT-3 and Google's new alternative, Bard. The recent circumvention of ChatGPT's ethics guardrails has sent shockwaves through the industry, and we talk about why academics are worried about AI chatbots as well as other general concerns about the technology. Then, we dive into the "why" of AI, paying particular attention to who decides what we want from AI and whether the current state of AI is valuable to society. The absence of accountability is a major problem in AI governance and we explore the lack of thought in the long-term implications of AI, as well as how the Australian and New Zealand governments compare in their AI protocols. At the end of the day, countries should be working together to provide a universal framework of ethics in AI, but is this possible with so many different cultures to accommodate? To find out the answer, and to gain insight into Kobi's exciting, new collaboration, tune in now!    Key Points From This Episode: Discussing the current conversations around ChatGPT-3 and Google's new alternative, Bard. Reiterating the fears of being able to circumvent ChatGPT's ethics guardrails.  Why academics are worried about AI chatbots and other concerns about the technology. Exploring the 'why' of AI: Who decides what we want from AI, and is it valuable to us? The lack of thought on the long-term and societal impacts of AI, and the absence of accountability.  Outcomes of the Robodebt trial and the thin lines between fear, ignorance, and negligence.  How the Australian and New Zealand governments compare in AI law.  The need for a framework of principles that can be used to critique governmental decisions.   Why countries should work together in creating a universal framework of ethics in AI. The difficulty of creating global systems of compliance within multiple different cultures.   An exciting collaboration that Kobi is working on, and why "ego" and "power" threaten this work.      Links Mentioned in Today's Episode: 'An important next step in our AI journey' 'EU, US step up AI cooperation amid policy crunchtime'  'Amazing "jailbreak" bypasses ChatGPT's ethics safeguards'  'Now is the moment for a systemic reset of AI and technology governance' 'Who decides what conversations are allowed about artificial intelligence?'  'What is the law when AI makes the 'decisions'?'  'Whose doing was it?: what we've learned from the Robodebt Royal Commission'  'Government algorithm transparency and accountability' Sociotechnical Imaginaries  Natalie Rouse on LinkedIn Dr. Kobi Leins Dr. Kobi Leins on LinkedIn Dr. Kobi Leins on Twitter  AI Australia Podcast Eliiza

The AI space is complicated and there are so many questions that we don't have the answers to. Although it may seem like ChatGPT-3 does in fact have all the answers, in this week's episode, Natalie and Kobi explain why this is a potentially dangerous assumption. Although it presents enormous opportunities for societal progress, ChatGPT-3 also has the ability to be used as a form of weaponry, and we need to be careful about using it as a tool for learning. Then there are the issues of exploitation and environmental consequences that don't make the headlines, and the fact that we could be moving towards a world where humans are made redundant, and none of us want that, do we?    Key Points From This Episode: The pros and cons of using ChatGPT in school classrooms. Why ChatGPT is viewed as a form of weaponry by some people. The opportunity that ChatGPT presents society as a whole. Exploitation happening behind the scenes at ChatGPT.  Why Amazon has asked its staff to stop using ChatGPT. The environmental impacts of tools like ChatGPT. Information that has recently come to light that is a setback for automated vehicles. NIST's new AI risk management framework. Complexities of reviewing a tool like ChatGPT. The importance of having set standards in place in the AI space. Real world circumstances that are played out in the movie M3GAN. Exploring what our purpose as humans is.    Links Mentioned in Today's Episode: ChatGPT SlidesGPT 'The $2 Per Hour Workers Who Made ChatGPT Safer' 'The Exploited Labor Behind Artificial Intelligence' 'Tesla Video Promoting Self-Driving was Staged' 'This Song Sucks' 'Amazon Warns Employees Not to Share Confidential Information with ChatGPT' 'RoadMap for the NIST Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework' M3GAN Official Trailer 2  'Now Is the Moment for a Systemic Reset of AI and Technology Governance' Proposal for Regulation Natalie Rouse on LinkedIn Dr Kobi Leins Dr Kobi Leins on LinkedIn Dr Kobi Leins on Twitter Eliiza