We chat about new strides in Australian innovation. What if you had a computer quiz that decided if your grandma deserved the care needed to have a good life? What if you had a computer quiz designed to eliminate empathy in the name of streamlining budgets? What if you had an unbending, unchallengeable, system of rules that turned human experts into vestigial organs? And what if that system cost more than a $1 billion in privatisation contracts?

••• New aged care algorithm under fire as 800 apply for review https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-24/aged-care-algorithm-for-home-care-under-fire/106475138

Standing Plugs:

••• Order Jathan’s book: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520398078/the-mechanic-and-the-luddite

••• Subscribe to Ed’s substack: https://substack.com/@thetechbubble

••• Subscribe to TMK on patreon for premium episodes: https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills

Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (bsky.app/profile/jathansadowski.com) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.x.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (bsky.app/profile/jebr.bsky.social)