In science fiction films and books, Artificial Intelligence (or A-I) is usually either depicted as a menace to society or the saviour of the human race. Which is it?

In this episode of the Seriously Social podcast, journalist Ginger Gorman speaks to Professor Anthony Elliott, an expert on the way humans interact with technology. With fresh eyes Anthony unpicks our issues with the Australian Government’s COVIDSafe app, and reveals the unprecedented ways in which A-I–usually so invisible to most of us–is helping us fight the deadly coronavirus on a global scale.

Useful Links

The Culture of AI: Everyday Life and the Digital Revolution Anthony Elliott

COVID-19 High Performance Computing Consortium

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism Shoshana Zubof

The Big Nudge: Here's how the government could spread its coronavirus tracing app far, fast and wide David P Byrne, Richard Holden & Joshua B Miller

If you’re a millennial, spending part or all of your young adult life living at home with your boomer parents has been the norm for a while. After all, rents are high and work is insecure. How else are you going to get ahead? But what we weren’t banking on was Covid-19 lockdown, when everyone was forced to stay home together 24/7. From lockdown to easing of restrictions and the many variations within these extremes, what exactly has been happening inside Australia’s multigenerational homes? And will the pandemic create a “Generation Covid” – people whose lives are forever marked by the pandemic? Join Ginger Gorman on this episode of Seriously Social as she chats with an expert in intergenerational relationships, Melbourne University sociologist Associate Professor Dan Woodman.

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Life Patterns Research Project

There is no boomers vs millennials generational war but there is a class struggle Dan Woodman in The Guardian, 2017

Cruise ships stuck at sea, airlines going into voluntary administration, borders closed and travellers racing deadlines to get home. There’s no doubt the travel and tourism industry was an early victim of COVID-19. But what does recovery look like? On this episode of Seriously Social, tourism expert Professor Sara Dolnicar from UQ’s Business School explains what the tourism industry of the future might look like.

 

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A post-COVID-19 model of of tourism and hospitality workforce resilience A Martins, T Riordan, S Dolnicar

How to waste less on vacation TEDxUQ Sara Dolnicar

COVID19 and Airbnb–disrupting the disruptor. Sara Dolnicar, Samira Zare

It’s a discussion we’re hearing on repeat: do we save lives, or save the economy? For some, COVID-19 is the ultimate choice between two ‘must haves’.  But is it really? Professor Richard Holden explains why he joined economists from across the globe to explain to us the false dichotomy of public health versus the economy.  We’ll cover everything from game theory to social equalisers to the issue of whether economists are really the cold and calculating types they’re sometimes made out to be.

Useful Links

Open letter from 265 Australian economists: don't sacrifice health for the economy The Conversation

As bad as the Great Depression: top economist's warning on coronavirus impact Matthew Knot

Provide incentives for using the tracing app Richard Holden & Joshua Gans

Vital signs: A lesson from game theory the coronavirus contrarians ignore Richard Holden

With the #metoo movement, Harvey Weinstein’s conviction and subsequent sentencing – it finally seemed that gender equality issues were gaining traction, at least in the public’s mind. But what has the COVID-19 crisis taught us about gender, diversity and the very notion of citizenship? On this episode of Seriously Social journalist Ginger Gorman talks to legal scholar Professor Kim Rubenstein about gender and the pandemic, leadership and what it means to be an active citizen.

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Did our employers just requisition our homes? Fiona Jenkins

Champions of Change Coalition

BroadAgenda

S1 Episode 1:

In this launch episode of the Seriously Social podcast, historian Frank Bongiorno shares what history can teach us about living through the current COVID-19 pandemic. Frank is a Australian National University history professor and fellow of both the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and the Australian Academy of the Humanities, and in this episode he takes us back in time to the Peloponnesian War, the 1918-19 Spanish Flu outbreak, the World Wars and Great Depression to see how other generations have dealt with global catastrophic events (and it’s not all bad news!).

Useful Links

How Australia's response to the Spanish Flu of 1919 sounds warnings on dealing with coronavirus The Conversation

What is the social impact of the COVID-19 crisis? Seriously Social is a new podcast addressing this question.

The country’s best social scientists will help you understand human society, social relationship and the systems that govern our daily lives. Brought to you by the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.