As 2025 crashes out we survey the highs and lows of the year in tech with long-time platform burner Human Technology Institute co-director Ed Santow.

Regular panellists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O’Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis discuss:

Join us in discussing the issues raised in this episode join us in the Democracy Sandpit: https://civility.bettermode.io/welcome 

Help the Centre of the Public Square fund its research into AI and responsible technology - donate to Per Capita today: https://percapita.org.au/donate/ 

While the vested interests wrestle with the intricacies of AI regulation, are community library conversations the best bet for shaping our tech future? On this week's episode of Burning Platforms, we meet the academic who is fighting the algorithm with words.

Regular panellists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O’Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis will also discuss:

Meta’s latest Anti-Trust win

The News Media Bargaining Incentive

The case for an "AI Slop" Tax

Book a ticket for Cory’s late night show: https://events.humanitix.com/system-error-late-night-show

Read Lizzie’s Baffler piece: https://thebaffler.com/latest/antitrust-issues-oshea

Join us in discussing the issues raised in this episode join us in the Democracy Sandpit: https://civility.bettermode.io/welcome

How much energy will AI really burn? Climate writer and activist Ketan Joshi joins Burning Platforms to chat AI and Climate: what we know, what we don’t know and what data centres have to do with yogurt tubs.

Regular panellists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O’Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis also discuss:

Meta’s sloppy business model

Apple’s arranged AI marriage with Google

The Federal Government’s AI mission

To find out more about Ketan’s work, go to: https://ketanjoshi.co/blog/

To discuss the issues raised in this episode join us in the Democracy Sandpit - https://civility.bettermode.io/welcome

Is Big Tech’s domination of AI inevitable or are there different ways of organising our data to shift the power the dynamic? We discuss the RadicalXChange project with its new director, Jess Scully.

Regular panellists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O’Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis also discuss:

To find out more about RadicalxChange go to: https://www.radicalxchange.org/

To discuss the issues raised in this episode join us in the Democracy Sandpit - https://civility.bettermode.io/welcome

Visit www.percapita.org.au for more on our research and events.

AI is transforming our world at rapid speed, raising urgent questions about who benefits, who loses, and how we keep control of the future. 

Panellists from the Burning Platforms podcast and guests, explore the promises and pitfalls of AI - and what’s at stake for all Australians.

Panellists include:

While the boosters of AI are rushing to transform the world, citizens are being left in the slipstream, with little chance to influence how this new technology takes shape.

AI systems are built by harvesting the ideas and creations of others, often without consent, and are already eroding jobs and reshaping culture on the promise of future productivity.

As the Luddites taught us, the way we adopt technology will be critical to whether it improves people’s lives or cuts a swathe through jobs for the benefit of the few.

Many Australians perceive more risk than upside in this new technology, so why is it being pushed so hard, with so few guardrails or controls in place?

This event is hosted by Digital Rights Watch with support from The Minderoo Foundation.

Is the rise of AI inevitable or just the latest cycle of hype for a sector that thrives on the vibes? The author of “Resisting AI’, Professor Dan McQuillan, joins the show to argue for a more fundamental response to Big Tech.

Regular panellists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O’Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis also discuss:

the launch of AI’s new Sora video product

the push to sell advertising inside GPTs

and how consultants are embracing work slop

Join us for our live shows in capital cities around Australia

Adelaide: https://shorturl.at/ojQRX

Perth: events.humanitix.com/democracy-perth

Brisbane: events.humanitix.com/democracy-brisbane

Sydney: events.humanitix.com/democracy-sydney

Melbourne events.humanitix.com/democracy-melbourne

To discuss the issues raised in this episode join us in the Democracy Sandpit - https://civility.bettermode.io/welcome

The co-author of ‘Conspiracy Nation’ takes us on his journey into the world of anti-vaxxers, wellness influencers and sovereign citizens.

Regular panellists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O’Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis also discuss:

The call for AI Red Lines

The rise of Work Slop

And Murdoch’s Tik-Tok play.

In October we will beholding a series of live shows in capital cities and would love you to come along.

Adelaide: https://shorturl.at/ojQRX

Perth: events.humanitix.com/democracy-perth

Brisbane: events.humanitix.com/democracy-brisbane

Sydney: events.humanitix.com/democracy-sydney

Melbourne: events.humanitix.com/democracy-melbourne

To discuss the issues raised in this episode join us in the Democracy Sandpit - https://civility.bettermode.io/welcome

The tech industry is pitching data mining and new infrastructure as the key to national prosperity. But will it deliver? And if so, for whom?

Tech Council of Australia CEO, Damian Kassabgi joins regular panelists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O’Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis for the latest episode of Burning Platforms.

The show also covers:

fresh concerns over age verification

the creepy rise of intimate AI companions

And Nobel Prize winner Maria Ressa’s address to the National Press Club

To discuss the issues raised in this episode join us in the Democracy Sandpit - https://civility.bettermode.io/welcome

“I’m concerned that AI and big tech – well, big tech with AI – has gone into a full-court press… particularly on the federal system...I’m concerned that without thinking it through clearly enough, policy makers won’t essentially subject the slogans to sufficient scrutiny.”

This week on Burning Platforms, we recorded our special briefing for cultural creators and those who value their work to discuss Big Tech’s push to mine our culture.

Our panel discusses:

How AI large language models have been built on the theft of the work of musicians, writers journalists and artists.

What the productivity Commission’s proposal to give AI companies a ‘right to mine data’ will do to Australian performers

How creatives and citizens can resist the attacks from AI

Featuring:

AI expert and author Professor Toby Walsh

Midnight Oil front man Peter Garrett

Digital Rights Watch chair Lizzie O’Shea

Australian Writers Guild CEO Claire Pullen

To discuss the issues raised in this episode join us in the Democracy Sandpit - https://civility.bettermode.io/welcome

New Federal industry and science minister Tim Ayres shares his take on industry policy, AI's opportunities and risks, and how we could steer through the latest wave of tech change.

With regular panellists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O’Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton, and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis

To discuss the issues raised in this episode join us in the Democracy Sandpit - https://civility.bettermode.io/welcome