Life Matters

Last week's OpenAI hack of a Medicare website sent shockwaves through the community. While authorities have confirmed no personal information was compromised, it raises questions about the role of AI in dealing with sensitive medical information. What really happens to all those private details being recorded at your appointments? Researcher Andrew Cullen and AMA president-elect Michael Bonning discuss the role of AI assistants in the doctor's office and what can be done to protect patient privacy.

New research shows social isolation has nearly doubled in two decades, hitting young people hardest. So why does the most digitally connected generation in history feel so lonely? Michelle Lim, CEO of Australia's peak body tackling loneliness, explores how we got here and what we can do to shift the needle.

For years, messages warning about the consequences of illegally downloading and sharing movies, music and TV were everywhere. But has the dominance of streaming services stamped out piracy? Consumer behaviour expert Paul Harrison explains how easy access to every piece of media imaginable has changed the game.

According to the latest HILDA survey, most Australians are pretty satisfied with their relationships. The data suggests couples without kids are among the happiest. Psychologist Stephen Andrew and sociologist Leah Ruppanner discuss the ingredients for a strong relationship.

Over the last couple of decades, the average number of words we say out loud each day has dropped. Between 2005 and 2019, researchers in the US found a 28 per cent decline in the number of spoken words. Linguistics professor Nick Enfield explains what's happening to our lost speech. 

Tutors are often the people who step up when your kids are struggling in their education. But some of these businesses are shutting up shop, with the rise of AI shaking up the industry. The Australian Tutoring Association's Mohan Dhall and researcher Ben Zunica explore whether a chatbot can really replace a human tutor.

We all want friends who are funny, smart, loyal and kind, but we also want them to have our back no matter what. Jaimie Krems and Keelah Williams are friendship scientists — they're also BFFs — who have researched the science behind why you love your vicious, maybe a little unhinged best friend. Their research won an Ignobel prize, so what other qualities do we want in a bestie?

When new neighbours threaten the harmony of a quiet cul-de-sac by persecuting a precious pooch, it's time to ask aunty.

Our suburbs are home to an incredibly diverse population. But when you look at Australia's urban sprawl, it can feel like the people in charge simply hit copy and paste. The upcoming Future Suburb Symposium, hosted by the University of Melbourne, wants to transform our suburbs from 'stubbornly generic, repetitive, and under-serviced', to places that are inclusive, exciting, and better reflect the needs of those who live there. So what would the ideal suburb of the future look like, and what needs to change to make it possible?

It's becoming easier to holiday with your pets in Australia, with at least one major airline now allowing small animals on planes and accommodation booking sites offering "pet-friendly" filters. But even if you find a motel or campground your pet can come to, what about the hikes, museums, cafes and restaurants, can they actually enjoy the holiday like you can? Author of a guide to travelling with pets Carla Francis and human-animal relationship expert Dr Tiffani Howell help you get the balance right.

And in Ask Aristotle with ethicist Patrick Stokes, is it ever ok to track your kids? 

Picture your childhood home for a moment. What details can you still remember? The colour of the kitchen cupboards? The view from your bedroom window? Your secret hiding spot? Lifelong memories are shaped by the daggy laminate benches and cracked vinyl couches of our childhood homes. Christian Duell has studied the significance of our first homes, and he is joined by Grand Designs Australia and By Design host Anthony Burke to unpack why the home you grew up is lodged in your heart for life.

Just this week the Australian Health and Welfare Institute estimated two in three people with migraine don't even have a formal diagnosis. It's part of a wider picture of just how misunderstood this condition is. So how would better understanding and treatment for migraine change the lives of almost 4 million Australians?

And how could letting go of your fitness goals help you achieve them?

They say life's short, but it's actually getting longer. By 2066, life expectancy for Australian women will have jumped from 86 years to nearly 90. And from 82 to 86 years for men. So how do we make sure those extra years of life are lived well?

There's something about physically picking up a cookbook, with it's pasta sauce-splattered, dog-eared pages that makes the meal enjoyed at the end feel a bit special. It goes some way to explaining the rise of cookbook clubs, like a traditional book club but with better food. Joan Tran and Dominique Lonsdale, co-founders of Cookbook Club Naarm join Stephanie Alexander AO, chef, restaurateur and cookbook author to unpack why these books can are so dear to us.

Olympian and mum of five Libby Trickett shares her favourite Australian kids book, and in Head and Heart our resident psychologist Christine Bagley-Jones helps you to prepare for empty-nesting, and hopefully avoid some of the heartbreak that comes with sending your kids off into the world. 

Looksmaxxing, promposal, copium... who decides which words are important enough to be elevated to dictionary status?

Competitiveness is baked into most aspects of modern culture, from work, to your kid's sport, to performing your best life on social media. But does competitiveness feel like a trait you can't turn off or on within yourself? Psychologists Dr Inge Gnatt and Gavin Freeman bring their experience from the ballet and elite team sport spheres to unpack where your competitiveness comes from and ask where it's taken you in life.

When a minor infringement can tank an entire friendship, was it ever that serious? Is it a relationship worth patching up? We call in the aunties.

Whether it's climate change, nuclear war, or AI doomsday, conversations about the end of the world are becoming fairly commonplace. So how are we preparing for a seemingly endless list of existential threats? AI expert Toby Walsh and sociologist Jordan McKenzie discuss how we're collectively feeling about the end of days.

It's all fun and games at the younger levels of junior sport, but as players move through the age groups, the element of competition becomes more serious. Researcher Sam Elliott and Olympic medallist Libby Trickett explore how to strike the balance between encouraging healthy competition and making room for fun in kids' sport. 

The story of the Gallipoli campaign is a key part of our national identity. ANZAC history has been commemorated in myriad ways over the decades, but a new video game is raising eyebrows. Sociologist Dan Woodman weighs in on the role conflict plays in our national myths. 

Among readers, there are two main camps: the completionists, and those who DNF (do not finish). Giving up on a bad book is one thing, but it can be much harder to walk away from a goal that's taken years of effort. Endurance runner Jane Davies joins researcher Hugh Riddell to explore the power of shifting or simply walking away from a goal. 

Olfactory historian William Tullett has dedicated his career to understanding how an oft-overlooked sense has shaped not only our day-to-day lives, but human history. He argues we could learn a lot from stopping not just to smell the roses, but even the grislier scents too. 

Poetry has always been a pure, earnest and powerful way for humans to express themselves. A recent UK study revealed that 24 per cent of people aged eight to 18 read poetry at least once a month. In the digital age, what's behind this surge of young people turning to this timeless form of expression?