When AI systems mislead, discriminate, or get things wrong—who is actually responsible? In this episode of Careful Minds, Rayane El Masri speaks with Dr Joanne Kuai about the growing “responsibility gap” in AI. 

From AI-generated news and election misinformation to invisible labour and global power imbalances, they explore how accountability becomes blurred across developers, platforms, and institutions. This conversation unpacks why these failures aren’t just technical and what it would take to build more responsible and equitable AI systems.

Dr Kuai Joanne Kuai is an Affiliate of the ADM+S at RMIT University. Her research interests include digital journalism, the social implications of automation and algorithms, and data and AI governance.

Research publications discussed in this podcast:

Brantner, C., Karlsson, M., & Kuai, J. (2025). Sourcing behavior and the role of news media in AI-powered search engines in the digital media ecosystem: Comparing political news retrieval across five languages. TelecommunicationsPolicy, 49(5), 102952. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2025.102952
Kuai, J., Brantner, C., Karlsson, M., Van Couvering, E., & Romano, S. (2025). AI chatbot accountability in the age of algorithmic gatekeeping: Comparing generative search engine political information retrieval across five languages. New Media & Society, 14614448251321162. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251321162This episode is part of the ADM+S Careful Minds series created by ADM+S PhD Student Rayane El Masri. 

Conversational agents based on Large Language Models are increasingly stepping into roles that look and feel like partnership, friendship or even love. 

These systems can comfort people, reduce loneliness and offer a sense of connection. But they also raise difficult questions about authenticity, dependency, power and care. 

In this episode, Rayane El Masr, PhD student of the ADM+S,  speaks to Prof Robert Sparrow (Monash University) about the ethical and philosophical implications of AI companionship.

Professor Sparrow is a Professor in the Philosophy Program, Chief Investigator at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science at Monash University, and Associate Investigator at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society’s Monash University node.

This episode is part of the ADM+S Careful Minds series created by ADM+S PhD Student Rayane El Masri.

In this episode of Automated Societies, we introduce a new ADM+S podcast series: Careful Minds: AI, Ethics and Society, hosted by Rayane El Masri. 

Rayane, an ADM+S PhD student and recipient of the 2025 Marc Sanders Foundation Philosophy in Media Podcasting Fellowship, brings a fresh perspective to discussions on AI, ethics, and society. Her research explores how care ethics, drawing on Joan Tronto’s Political Care Theory, can help address the value alignment problem in generative AI, a pressing challenge in today’s AI technologies.

This series will explore whose values shape AI, how automated systems influence society, and what ethical responsibility looks like in a rapidly evolving technological world. Upcoming episodes feature conversations with researchers, technologists, and policy thinkers, examining themes including care, justice, feminism, decolonisation, and Global South perspectives.

Rayane shares her journey into AI ethics, insights from her fellowship and podcasting training with figures like Robert Krulwich, Mia Lobel, and Barry Lam, and why philosophical thinking is essential for understanding the technologies shaping our lives.

Join us as we begin a new series on the Automated Societies podcast and open the conversation on AI, ethics, and society.

Google’s new AI Mode is the biggest shift to search in years  but what does it mean for how we find and trust information?

In this episode, we talk to ADM+S researchers Dr Ashwin Naggapa, Dr Oleg Zendel and Sara Fahad Dawood Al Lawati from the Australian Search Experience project to explore how AI is transforming search engines into conversational systems that summarise rather than connect  us to the web.

We explore what happens when AI becomes the gatekeeper of online visibility. From SEO to Generative Engine Optimisation, we discuss the future of information production, the risks to independent voices, and how Australians are navigating the new search landscape.

"Against the backdrop of the ongoing housing crisis, renters are increasingly interacting with digital technologies at every stage of their housing experience."

PhD researcher Samantha Floreani from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society at Monash University is conducting a study on the growing influence of digital technologies in the residential real estate sector.

These technologies—sometimes referred to as ‘RentTech’—include online rental application platforms (such as 2Apply, Sorted, Ignite, and Snug), property management apps (Kolmeo, Cubbi, ConsoleTenant), and rent payment platforms (Rental Rewards, Ailo, SimpleRent), among others. The research aims to explore how these technologies affect renters’ experiences and housing justice in Australia.

On the 16 May 2025, ADM+S hosted a presentation by Associate Professor Trebor Scholz titled From Vibe to Viability: A methodology for Building Transformative Alternatives in the Digital Economy.

In his talk, Assoc Prof Scholz analyses real-world models of doing things differently—from a driver-owned ride-hailing platform in New York City, to a community telecoms co-op in South Africa, a care worker co-op in Sydney, an artist-owned stock photography platform based in Canada, and a food delivery system shared by 80 cooperatives across Europe. These are practical alternatives that challenge business-as-usual approaches in mobility, connectivity, creative production, care, and food systems.

A/Prof Trebor Scholz is a leading voice in the global movement for democratic digital infrastructure, exploring how communities in over 60 countries are creating alternatives to extractive technologies through cooperative experiments.

What if death wasn’t the end, but just... a transition to the cloud? In this episode, we explore the rise of digital personality emulations — AI-powered avatars that let you talk to the dead.

Philosopher Rob Sparrow joins us to unpack the ethics, cultural impacts, and spiritual questions surrounding these technologies. From ancestor worship with digital shrines to grieving via chatbots, we ask: are we preserving memories, or messing with mourning? And what does it mean when your late grandma is still texting?

Tune in for a fascinating conversation about death, data, and the future of mourning.

Read the full journal article published in New Media & Society

(Re)animating the ancestors: Digital personality emulations, ancestor veneration and ethics

Sparrow, R., & Zhang, E. Y. (2025). (Re)animating the ancestors: Digital personality emulations, ancestor veneration and ethics. New Media & Society, 0(0).

https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251317461

In a recent announcement from Meta’s founder Mark Zuckerberg, the tech giant has decided to do away with it’s third party fact-checking model, opting for a ‘community notes’ system similar to X. 

How will this decision impact public trust in platforms? What are the implications for the broader misinformation ecosystem? What is the balance between ‘free expression’ and the responsibility to combat misinformation online?

All this and more with journalist and fact-checking researcher Dr Silvia Montana-Nino from the University of Melbourne.

📄 This conversation is based on Silvia’s latest article for The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/meta-is-abandoning-fact-checking-this-doesnt-bode-well-for-the-fight-against-misinformation-246878

🔗 More on Silvia’s work: https://www.admscentre.org.au/silvia-montana-nino/

Dang’s interest in internet cures grew out of the misinformation boom in 2016, but instead of following the popular research agenda she wanted to understand the cultural and historical contexts behind these practices.

Unravelling the intricate connections between social, technological, biomedical, and non-biomedical spheres, Dang’s new book  ‘Internet Cures’ explores the intersection of miracle cures and technology, combining computational social media data with ethnographic insights from Vietnam and the US, and captures the interconnected lives of such cures in the digital realm.

Access ‘Internet Cures’ via: https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/internet-cures

More on Dang’s work: https://www.admscentre.org.au/dang-nguyen/

On 4 December 2024 ADM+S invited guest speakers from industry partner organisation the ABC, to be part of a panel titled ‘What is a Public Service Algorithm and Why Might We Need One?’ 

Providing an alternative to commercial forms of content curation is one of the challenges faced by public service media in the digital era. The conversation explores how automated recommendation systems might support the mission of public service media in Australia.

This conversation moderated by ADM+S Chief Investigator Prof Mark Andrejevic, features Angela Ross, Research Lead at ABC News Strategy and Innovation, Laura Gartry, Innovation Lead at ABC Digital and National News, Stuart Watt, Head of News Strategy and Innovation at ABC, and ADM+S Associate Investigator Assoc Prof James Meese.