Byte Into IT

Wouldn't it be fun to meet the people on the other side of the screen? Share ideas? Learn new stuff? This week on Byte Into IT, Vanessa Toholka and Dan Salmon tell us about some great conferences coming up in 2024.

Raelene Knowles, Chief Operating Officer at Interactive Games & Entertainment Association (IGEA), tells us all about Games Connect Asia Pacific (GCAP), Australia’s premier professional development and networking event for the game development industry. It is one of the first official events for Melbourne International Games Week (MIGW), starting on the 5th of October, 2024.

Olga Goloshchapova, Engineering Manager at Zepto and one of at least seven organisers at the Programmable Tech conference. Olga joins Vanessa and Dan in the studio to discuss the conference, which she says celebrates fantastic software developer content with a focus on human connection. Programmable Tech is happening on March 19 2024.

PLUS Vanessa catches a bug - listen now to find out whether it’s malware, illness or midge…

Infoxchange: technology for social justice

Should internet providers and social media platforms self-regulate? Professor Jeannie Marie Paterson doesn’t think so.

In this episode of Byte Into IT, we hear all about why the government should be doing more to protect the community against AI-generated pornographic and abusive deepfake material. Professor Jeannie Marie Paterson talks to Vanessa Toholka, Dan Salmon and Lilly Ryan about the huge problem that’s leaving women vulnerable to non-consensual images of themselves circling the internet and how Taylor Swift was the catalyst for stronger protections in getting this media off line. Read more here: https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/picture-to-burn-the-law-probably-won-t-protect-taylor-or-other-women-from-deepfakes

Plus, Carla Wilshire, CEO of Social Policy Group, delves into how the algorithm can work against women when it comes to job recruitment, why we need more women in tech and the virtual but real dangers faced by women in video games. Her book, Time to Reboot: Feminism in the Algorithm Age comes out March 1st.

Program regular, John Payne, Chair of the Board of Electronic Frontiers Australia, joins the Byte team for a forecast into the digital rights agenda for 2024. They delve into AI, privacy acts and data brokers.

Plus, Artist Thomas Marcusson phones in to discuss his installation project for 'Not Natural' at the Science Gallery Museum. Get down to the gallery to see just how random jellyfish can be...

With hosts: Dan Salmon, Vanessa Toholka and Paul Callaghan

Tully Water, futurist, trend forecaster, & cultural strategist at 'Soon Futures', joins the Byte Into It team to discuss all things AI and dating. From Tinder to ChatGPT, we hear a well-researched and nuanced discussion about the online dating space and the ways that it has been interacting with language, culture and socialising, as we look to predicting what effects, if any, this may have long-term for human connection.

Hosted by Vanessa Toholka, Lily Ryan and Dan Salmon

Lilly Ryan & Row Muray dive into the 'State Community Management Report 2023' with Vanessa Paech (she/her). They also chat with Dr J. Rosenhaum (they/them) about Nightshade & other 'poisons/preventions' that may impact/help the growth of AI art.

Vanessa Toholka, Dan Salmon and Paul Callaghan are joined by Dr Dang Nguyen, Senior Research Fellow at the RMIT University node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society. Dang discusses the role of AI and automated decision-making in news and media.

Lily and Dan discuss issues with accessing Playstation online store content, following the video game brand's decision to pull titles.

They also chat with City of Melbourne Councillor Jamal Hakim about the new technologies and spaces at the recently-opened Narrm Ngarrgu Library.

Lily and Dan get stuck into applying AI to pharmaceutical processes with Professor Sally Gras, Director of ARC Digital Bioprocess Development Hub. And, John Pane, Electronic Frontiers Aus Board Member helps to pick apart and interpret the Commonwealth governments new 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy.

Plus, the hosts tell you all the latest and not-so-greatest in the world of tech.

Joining Vanessa and Jo this week is Anthony Agius, independent tech journalist behind the daily newsletter The Sizzle.

Vanessa Toholka and Rowena Murray tackle spying workplace managers with Swinburne University's Professor Peter Holland who says productivity paranoia is at an all time high with the prevalence of working from home setups.

Plus, Nashin Mahtani talks about the development of Yayasan Peta Bencana (Disaster Map Foundation) which is a South-East Asian NGO creating humanitarian technologies for community-led disaster co-management.