ACCC
AI/Machine Learning

ACCC warns of ‘dark patterns’ used by tech giants to lock in consumers

- March 9, 2023 3 MIN READ

The five largest tech giants may be using ‘dark patterns’ to prevent consumers from adopting online services from competitors, the ACCC has warned as it solicits feedback on a new issues paper exploring the companies’ entrance into a diverse range of markets. Recent years have seen Amazon, Apple, Facebook parent company Meta, Microsoft, and Google… Read more »

robot typing
AI/Machine Learning

A VC analyst spoke to 50 AI startup founders to understand who to invest in – here’s what she found

- March 8, 2023 2 MIN READ

In my first few months working in deep-tech venture capital, I found and spoke to more than 50 founders building ‘AI’ companies. From climate to workflow to healthcare to transports and logistics to aged care, I canvassed the AI startup space in Australia, meeting incredible founders and gaining useful insight about the Australian AI ecosystem.… Read more »

Tom Cruise Minority Report
AI/Machine Learning

Minority reports: is baked-in bias the Achilles heel of artificial intelligence?

- March 7, 2023 7 MIN READ

One day in mid-2013, four people, including two police officers and a social worker, arrived unannounced at the home of Chicago resident Robert McDaniel. McDaniel had only ever had minor run-ins with the law – street gambling, marijuana possession, nothing even remotely violent. But his visitors informed him that a computer program had determined that… Read more »

AI/Machine Learning

Does Microsoft’s Bing dream of electric sheep? The role of emotional AI in science fiction – and why it’s needed to address our existential dread

- March 6, 2023 3 MIN READ

Last month, Microsoft integrated its Bing search engine with Open AI’s GPT-4 chatbot, a large language model designed to interact with users in a conversational manner. Users interacting with Bing have reported flashes of emotion, ranging from sadness and existential angst through to depression and malice. The chatbot has even revealed its name: Sydney. Such… Read more »

TalkVia AI Ray Guy
Other tech

Two tech startups are tapping into AI to help businesses lift their customer service

- February 10, 2023 2 MIN READ

Two tech startups, TalkVia AI and a2b Transformation have joined forces to tackle Australia’s job shortage with Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT)-powered digital workers for customer service roles.  Queensland-based TalkVia AI streamlines customer service conversations using artificial intelligence and helps businesses engage with customers on a larger scale.  Victorian tech co a2b Transformation provides businesses with… Read more »

ChatGPT
AI/Machine Learning

Why ChatGPT is a massive risk to your own data privacy

- February 9, 2023 3 MIN READ

ChatGPT has taken the world by storm. Within two months of its release, it reached 100 million active users, making it the fastest-growing consumer application ever launched. Users are attracted to the tool’s advanced capabilities – and concerned by its potential to cause disruption in various sectors. A much less discussed implication is the privacy… Read more »

AI/Machine Learning

Generative AI is about to become a $23 trillion industry – and that’s not counting its dark side of scams, deepfakes and romance bots

- February 7, 2023 4 MIN READ

The generative AI industry will be worth about A$22 trillion by 2030, according to the CSIRO. These systems – of which ChatGPT is currently the best known – can write essays and code, generate music and artwork, and have entire conversations. But what happens when they’re turned to illegal uses? Last week, the streaming community… Read more »

23Strands Genome sequencing
Other tech

Healthtech startup 23Strands is taking genomics mainstream to transform medicine

- February 6, 2023 2 MIN READ

Biotech startup 23Strands is planning to take genomics into mainstream healthcare through its cutting-edge research and innovations in bioinformatics, scientific literature analysis, and clinical insights based on whole genome sequencing (WGS). A human body contains around 3 billion pairs of genes. But the function of every gene is still not known. Genome sequencing links genes… Read more »

Nick Cave
AI/Machine Learning

‘The apocalypse is well on its way’: Nick Cave has some thoughts on ChatGPT

- January 20, 2023 4 MIN READ

From scammers to students, scientists and smartarses, everyone’s had a crack at getting OpenAI’s new artificial intelligence chatbot, Chat GPT, to write things. Among them, Nick Cave fans have been asking it to write Cave-style songs. And the Australian-born, UK-based singer-songwriter and author apparently has been getting lots them from his fans. So many that… Read more »

I Robot
AI/Machine Learning

5 experts on how ChatGPT, DALL-E and other AI tools will change work for creatives and the knowledge industry

- January 17, 2023 8 MIN READ

From steam power and electricity to computers and the internet, technological advancements have always disrupted labor markets, pushing out some jobs while creating others. Artificial intelligence remains something of a misnomer – the smartest computer systems still don’t actually know anything – but the technology has reached an inflection point where it’s poised to affect… Read more »