Burning Platforms

The Burning Platforms panel kick around the carcass of this week when the White House went to war with AI, bosses found new ways to snoop on workers, and the market was moved by a bit of fan fiction.

Per Capita’s Peter Lewis joins Digital Rights Watch chair Lizzie O’Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and The Sizzle’s Cam Wilson try to make sense of the madness.

And some reading to get you warmed up:

Casey Newton - What is OpenAI going to do when the truth comes out?

On this week's episode of Burning Platforms, the team look at the AI Impact Summit in Delhi with first-hand accounts from UTS’s Human Technology Institute co-director and regular panelist Digital Rights Chair Lizzie O’Shea.

They join Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis to also discuss:

Join us in discussing 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 of the Centre of the Public Square's research and events.

Per Capita's podcasts are produced on Wurundjeri land.

Governments may campaign in poetry and govern in prose, but what about the engineering that keeps our democracy flowing? The pioneer of public innovation and Professor of Collective Intelligence at University College London, Sir Geoff Mulgan, believes it’s time to get the boring bits right.

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

If you want to hear more from Sir Geoff he will be speaking in Sydney on Feburary 25 https://anzsog.edu.au/events-connection/events/what-next-for-public-innovation-with-geoff-mulgan

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

Per Capita's podcasts are recorded and produced on Wurundjeri land.

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/ 

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