With AI in our newsrooms, our universities, and our courtrooms, the way we understand the truth has been forever changed. But could it be for the better? Or have we embarked on an unstoppable march towards a new understanding of democracy. 

How do we democratise AI development when a handful of tech companies run the digital world? And could we implement government reforms in Australia to make this happen?

GUESTS:

• Cory Alpert, former Biden–Harris administration staffer and current PhD researcher at the University of Melbourne, and host of the University of Melbourne's System Error
• Prof. Daniel Angus, Professor of Digital Communication and Director of QUT's Digital Media Research Centre.

This episode of Download This Show was made on Gadigal and Muwinina land.

If you were to picture the ideal robot form to vacuum your floor all by itself, what do you see? Is it a small UFO-shaped disc that whizzes under couches, or is it a humanoid robot with eyes and ears tracking your every move? The new 1X Neo robot has been launched and has been marketed as a 'robot butler', but what issues arise when we start making the tech that serves us look more and more human?  

Also, a new AI chatbot designed for human companionship has been met with outright vitriol in New York. Friend is a wearable chatbot designed to literally replace human relationships, and people are not entirely on board. 

Plus, strict safety rules are set to be enforced for power banks on domestic flights, and Meta has just launched an AI briefing tool for Facebook users. 

GUESTS:

• Chris Berg, professor of economics at RMIT 
• Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson, future economies reporter at the Australian Associated Press 

This episode of Download This Show was made on Gadigal land, in Meanjin and in Naarm.

Roblox has been one of the worst culprits for child safety in the games world, and they’ve come up with something to supposedly keep our kids safe. ‘Age-gating’ is designed to keep people of different ages in different parts of the online game, but how accurate is this age verification? And is it going to cause more problems than solutions? 

Also, the government has been found using generative AI to develop plans for NDIS participants. Will rising costs and dwindling resources in disability support push workers into using standardised AI to support participants long-term, or are there better tools out there for this? 

Plus, the Hugging Face CEO has said that the famously near-bursting AI bubble is actually, in fact, an LLM bubble. But what’s the difference, in a world where cities are being razed to build water-guzzling AI datacentres? 

GUESTS: 

• Alice Clarke, freelance tech journalist and editor of Press Any Button substack 
• Gianfranco di Giovanni, journalist for ABC Arts and Content Director for ABC Perth 

This episode of Download This Show was made on Gadigal, and Whadjuk Noongar land, and in Naarm.

Technical production by Harvey Sutherland and Carey Dell.

What happens when theology and technology collide? There's a new tech startup dedicated to building a Christian AI. It's called Gloo, launched by ex-Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger, and they say it's going to 'hasten the coming of Christ's return'. 

Also, AI chat services are helping us speak to God. From innocent Bible chatbots to an AI priest that told people to baptise their babies in Gatorade, how seriously are people taking these technological embodiments of God? 

Plus, we go way back into the lore behind the Way of the Future church, a church devoted to worshipping AI. 

GUESTS:

• Rohan Salmond, producer of Soul Search and editor of the Modern Relics newsletter
• Dr Declan Humphries, lecturer in cyber security and ethics at the University of the Sunshine Coast, and ABC Top 5 Humanities resident for 2025

This episode of Download This Show was made on Gadigal land and on the land of the Kubi Kubi people.

How well do you think the streets of Sydney would handle self-driving taxis? What about those same self-driving taxis navigating the Melbourne tram lines? Could you imagine it? Waymo is set to launch self-driving taxis and Ubers in Australia soon after talks with Transport NSW, and not everyone is happy with it. 

Also, Elon Musk has launched his very own version of the people's encyclopedia, Wikipedia, and Facebook Dating has been quietly dominating the online dating scene, and on both counts, we’re trying to figure out why. 

GUESTS:

• Dr Erica Mealy, senior lecturer in computer science at the University of the Sunshine Coast 
• Professor Michael Cowling, lecturer and Director of the Apple Platform Hub for Innovation at RMIT 

This episode of Download This Show was made on Gadigal land, in Meanjin and in Naarm. 

How much do you trust the AI chatbots you use on a day-to-day basis? Once you send your prompt off into cyberspace, how do you now no one is interfering with it somewhere in between? Prompt injections are an increasingly common vulnerability in generative AI services and they could be tricking you into giving away majorly sensitive information.

Also, Google announced a breakthrough in quantum computing, the first ever algorithm to gain an actual quantum advantage on every day hardware. But again, what actually is quantum computing?

Plus, ChatGPT is entering its horny era, and Labor has banned the tech giants from using copyrighted content to train AI.

GUESTS:

• Sarah Moran, co-founder of AI Patient Notes
• Jocelyn Brewer, psychologist and founder of Digital Nutrition

This episode of Download This Show was made on the land of the Gadigal and the Dharawal people, and in Meanjin.

Technical production by Craig Tilmouth and Brendan O'Niell.

When a major outage hit Amazon Web Services this week, websites and apps started falling like dominoes -- from Square to Duolingo, Netflix, and Adobe, why do so many major players rely on a single company to host their data? And should we be calling time on these pseudo tech-monopolies? 

Also, we investigate whether its actually true that your iPhone slows down every time a new one is released, and what’s going to happen to the 400 million computers that are going to become obsolete thanks to the Windows 11 update.  

Plus, Instagram has announced new teen controls for parents, but will they have any impact in Australia after the teen social media ban comes into effect? 

GUESTS:

• David Braue, technology journalist at Cybercrime Magazine 
• Alex Kidman, technology journalist at Alex Reviews Tech  

This episode of Download This Show was made on Gadigal land and in Naarm.

Technical production by Craig Tilmouth and Matthew Sigley.

The Online Safety Amendment Bill is the name on everyone’s lips this week and as the implementation date looms closer, we take a deep dive into some of the people most affected by the upcoming ban, and lay out all the info you need to know if you’re a parent or teen trying to duck and dodge this murky legislation.  

GUESTS:

• Leo Puglisi, teenager and Founder of 6 News Australia 
• Nikita White, Amnesty International Campaigner 
• Anne Hollonds, National Children’s Safety Comissioner

This episode of Download This Show was made on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation.

Technical production by Richard Girvan.

There are over 170 million pieces of space junk orbiting Earth right now, and that number is only growing as space orbit becomes more accessible. How are we going to deal with this astronomical littering problem, while keeping up with our satellite-hungry tech needs?

Also, an increase in light and radio pollution is making it harder for astronomers to study the stars. How can space tech companies, governments, and even you do something about it?

Plus, we check in with the latest from SpaceX, and figure out what messages we're sending out into the great unknown on life, love, and the universe.

GUESTS:

• Professor Andy Koronios, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the Australasian Space Innovation Institute
• Nick Carter, Lead of the Space Research Group at CSIRO

This episode of Download This Show was made on Gadigal land, Kaurna land, and the Country of the Whadjuk Nyoongar people.

Technical production by Allyse Symons.

You step up to a box full of prizes, and knowing that there is a chance you may not win anything, you give it your real-life money anyway. No, this isn't a game at the casino, it's a video game that children as young as four are playing in their spare time. Last year, Australia introduced classification to prevent things like this from happening, so why are we still seeing Loot Boxes show up in kids games?

Also, one of the largest video game companies in the world, Electronic Arts (responsible for games like The Sims and the FIFA franchise), has just agreed to a record-breaking sale. If a Saudi Arabian private equity fund, a Trump advisor, and Silicon Valley investors are joining billion-dollar forces to buy out EA games, what does the future of our games industry look like? 

Plus, we take a look at one of the weirdest, most wonderful consoles in gaming and check in on what’s happening for Melbourne International Games Week October 4-12.

GUESTS:

• David Smith, producer at ABC Gamer 
• Seb Chan, Director & CEO of ACMI 

This episode of Download This Show was produced on Gadigal land, and in Naarm. 

Technical production by Riley Mellis.