Automated Societies

Automated Societies

By ADM+S CentreSociety & Culture
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Automated Societies episodes

  • Debate: Generative AI Should be Stopped!

    This debate was held as part of the 2023 ADM+AS Web Search Revolution Symposium on 17 August at RMIT University, and online.

    A lively debate on the implications of Generative AI and its societal impact. Featuring experts in the field, this debate will shed light on the serious hazards and enormous potential of Generative AI. The affirmative side will argue that we must stop progress in this technology and focus on minimising its harms and render it safe. The negative will emphasise the importance of integrating this Promethean Gift into every corner of our lives.
    Speakers:
    A/Prof Chris Berg, RMIT University (moderator)
    Prof Chirag Shah, University of Washington (affirmative)
    Dr Jana Schmitz, .au domain (affirmative)
    Prof Jason Potts, RMIT University (affirmative)
    Dr Rachel Bailes, Australian Information Industry Association (negative)
    Prof Sinclair Davidson, RMIT University (negative)
    Dr Aaron Lane, Lawyer, Supreme Court of Victoria and RMIT University (negative)

    43 min
  • What did the Web Search Revolution revolt against?

    This panel was held at the 2023 ADM+S Web Search Revolution Symposium on 17 August at RMIT University, and online.

    How did search engines develop over the 20th century? Mark Sanderson and Julian Thomas will show how expensive subscription-based search companies formed in the 1960s and largely unchanged over three decades were wiped out by web search that was free, fast, and easy to use, drawing connections between this revolution of the past and the current generative AI revolution.
    Speakers:
    Prof Lisa Given, RMIT University (chair)
    Prof Mark Sanderson, RMIT University
    Prof Julian Thomas, RMIT University

    32 min
  • Imagine the year is 2050… How will we experience search?

    This panel was held at the 2023 ADM+S Web Search Revolution Symposium on 17 August at RMIT University, and online.

    Although generative AI – and tools like ChatGPT – show that the future of search will certainly be complex, this panel will engage in longer-term stargazing to examine what the reality of search may be in 25-30 years. Through an interactive discussion format, our experts will imagine how people will find and share information, how our workplaces may change, whether dozens of phone apps will continue to define search, and who might own and control these tools and the data they contain. Come along on the journey as we look ahead to the next generation of search.
    Speakers:
    Prof Lisa Given, RMIT University (chair)
    Prof Guido Zuccon, University of Queensland
    Peter Bailey, Canva
    Dr Johanne Trippas, RMIT University
    Prof Jason Potts, RMIT University

    58 min
  • The Impact of Search on Society

    This panel was held at the 2023 ADM+S Web Search Revolution Symposium on 17 August at RMIT University, and online.

    With billions of queries serviced every day, web search has profoundly reshaped the way we relate to information. But search has itself been reshaped by law, regulation, markets, user interactions, and other social forces. This panel asks: how can we understand the historical evolution of search from a social perspective? What has search done to us, and what have we done to search? And how can future search systems be designed to avoid some of the mistakes made in the past?
    Speakers,
    Assoc Prof Ramon Lobato, RMIT University (chair)
    Louisa Bartolo, Queensland University of Technology
    Prof Dan Angus, Queensland University of Technology
    Prof Kimberlee Weatherall, University of Sydney
    Prof Alistair Moffat, University of Melbourne

    58 min
  • Susan Dumais: The history of search and its impact

    This keynote presentation was part of the 2023 ADM+S Web Search Revolution Symposium on 17 August at RMIT University, and online.

    What did web search replace? What are the origins of web search and how it has evolved in the last 2-3 decades? A look at the history and impact of search and a look forward to where we are going – including neural methods which have been used in web search for a while and chat. The talk will focus more on people and their interactions with search systems, helping them articulate their needs and making sense of results and less about the technical details of the systems themselves.
    Speaker:
    Susan Dumais, Technical Fellow & Managing Director, Microsoft Research New England, New York City and Montreal

    55 min
  • Chirag Shah: The future of search: Information seeking, large language models and search

    This keynote presentation was part of the 2023 ADM+S Web Search Revolution Symposium on 17 August at RMIT University, and online.

    The prominent model of retrieving, evaluating, and using relevant information from databases, collections, and the web is going through a significant transformation. This is largely due to wide-scale availability of various generative AI systems that can take in natural language inputs and generate highly customized natural language text or images and even videos. This transformation in progress will have profound impacts on users, developers, and policy makers. It is already changing many sectors including education, health, and commerce. In this talk, I will highlight some of the opportunities and challenges for information access stemming from recent advancements in generative AI. I will bring up frequently asked questions about impacts of these technologies on pedagogy, jobs, economy, policies, and democracy. The goal here is to cut through both hype and fear and think pragmatically about the future of information access.
    Speaker:
    Chirag Shah, Professor of Information and Computer Science, University of Washington

    1 hr 2 min
  • Keynote: Prof Wiebke Loosen

    This keynote was presented at the 2023 ADMS+S Automated News and Media Symposium, 13-14 July 2023 at the University of Sydney.


    In this presentation titled 'Introducing Communicative AI', Prof Loosen from Hans Bredow Institute considers what it means to think about AI as a form of communication, working with and further developing the concept ‘Communicative AI’, and illustrates the breadth and depth of this phenomenon through a series of case studies from the journalism sector.


    Learn more about the 2023 Symposium: admscentre.org/ADMS2023

    Watch session recordings on Youtube: admscentre.org/2023-symposium-recordings

    32 min
  • Keynote: Tarunima Prabhakar

    This keynote was presented at the 2023 ADMS+S Automated News and Media Symposium, 13-14 July 2023 at the University of Sydney.


    In this presentation titled 'A New Thing Under the Sun? Alternative Visions for Tech in the Age of AI', Tattle co-founder Tarunima Prabhakar argues for a deeper engagement of theory with practice to inform critiques of ‘big tech’, and the proposed agenda for change. 


    Learn more about the 2023 Symposium: admscentre.org/ADMS2023

    Watch session recordings on Youtube: admscentre.org/2023-symposium-recordings

    47 min
  • Talking About Automation

    This panel discussion took place at the 2023 ADMS+S Automated News and Media Symposium, 13-14 July 2023 at the University of Sydney.


    Panelists discuss the actual vs perceived capabilities of AI systems, their potential to disrupt vs their capacity to maintain power dynamics, and the real vs imagined threats and challenges of automation in the media landscape.


    Speakers:

    Dr Thao Phan, Monash University

    Jeni Lee, Monash University 

    Lauren Kelly, RMIT University

    Michael Lucy, The Conversation


    Learn more about the 2023 Symposium: admscentre.org/ADMS2023

    Watch session recordings on Youtube: admscentre.org/2023-symposium-recordings

    46 min
  • It's Not the Algorithm: How We Search

    This panel discussion took place at the 2023 ADMS+S Automated News and Media Symposium, 13-14 July 2023 at the University of Sydney.


    Panelists introduce the Australian Search Experience project, and discuss the long-term implications for future research that have arisen as a result of the study. 


    Speakers:

    Prof Daniel Angus, Queensland University of Technology

    Dr Abdul Obeid, Queensland University of Technology

    Dr Ariadna Matamoros-Fernandez, Queensland University of Technology

    Dr James Meese, RMIT University


    Learn more about the 2023 Symposium: admscentre.org/ADMS2023

    Watch session recordings on Youtube: admscentre.org/2023-symposium-recordings

    47 min

About Automated Societies

From the publisher's feed

Utopian visions of automated decision-making (ADM) and AI promises new levels of personalisation, control and choice in our lives. Yet, we still know very little about how AI and ADM is being…

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