Stop the World

In the first video edition of The Sydney Dialogue Summit Sessions, David Wroe sits down with Connor Leahy, co-founder and CEO of Conjecture AI. David and Connor speak about the catastrophic risks that a powerful but uncontrolled and unaligned artificial superintelligence could pose to humanity, and Conjecture’s approach to safe AI called “cognitive emulation”. They also discuss what it means for an intelligent agent to have goals, and the likelihood that the current dominant AI approach of large language models can continue to be scaled up with more computing power.

Connor was a panellist at ASPI’s Sydney Dialogue cyber and tech conference held on September 2 and 3. This is the first of a series of podcasts filmed on the sidelines of the conference, which will be released in the coming weeks.

Check out ASPI’s YouTube channel here to watch the full video.

The Sydney Dialogue is over, but never fear, we have more TSD content coming your way! This week, ASPI’s David Wroe speaks to Nina Jankowicz, global disinformation expert and author of the books How to Lose the Information War and How to Be a Woman Online.

Nina takes us through the trends she is seeing in disinformation across the globe, and offers an assessment of who does it best, and whether countries like China and Iran are learning from Russia. She also discusses the links between disinformation and political polarisation, and what governments can do to protect the information domain from foreign interference and disinformation.

Finally, Dave asks Nina about her experience being the target of disinformation and online harassment, and the tactics being used against many women in influential roles, including US Vice President Kamala Harris and Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, in attempts to censor and discredit them.

Guests:

David Wroe

Nina Jankowicz

In the final lead-in episode to the Sydney Dialogue (but not the last in the series!), ASPI’s Executive Director, Justin Bassi, interviews Shashank Joshi, Defence Editor at the Economist.

They discuss technology, security and strategic competition, including the impact of artificial intelligence on defence and intelligence operations, the implications of the no-limits partnership between Russia and China and increasing alignment between authoritarian states. They also cover the challenge of protecting free speech online within a framework of rules which also protects public safety.

They talk about Shashank’s latest Economist report ‘Spycraft: Watching the Watchers’, which explores the intersection of technology and intelligence, and looks at the history of intel and tech development, including advancements from radio to the internet and encryption.

The Sydney Dialogue (TSD) is ASPI’s flagship initiative on cyber and critical technologies. The summit brings together world leaders, global technology industry innovators and leading thinkers on cyber and critical technology for frank and productive discussions. TSD 2024 will address the advances made across these technologies and their impact on our societies, economies and national security.

Find out more about TSD 2024 here: https://tsd.aspi.org.au/

Mentioned in this episode:

https://www.economist.com/technology-quarterly/2024-07-06

Guests:

Justin Bassi

Shashank Joshi

In today’s episode of The Sydney Dialogue Summit Sessions, Alex Caples speaks to Jennifer Zhu Scott, globally recognised AI expert and Founding Partner of IN. Capital, about artificial intelligence and the changing value of data.

They discuss how rapid tech advancements have seen debates about how to keep governments out of cyberspace and technology turn into calls for governments to step in to regulate the online world. As part of this, they explore the value of personal data, which is no longer limited to debates about privacy but about who owns the data and who can profit from it.

They explain how big companies are using personal data for profit, and the need for individuals and corporations to regain control of their data, both from an economics perspective and to safeguard personal freedoms.

The Sydney Dialogue (TSD) is ASPI’s flagship initiative on cyber and critical technologies. The summit brings together world leaders, global technology industry innovators and leading thinkers on cyber and critical technology for frank and productive discussions. TSD 2024 will address the advances made across these technologies and their impact on our societies, economies and national security.

Find out more about TSD 2024 here: https://tsd.aspi.org.au/

Guests:

Alexandra Caples

Jennifer Zhu Scott

Today we have a double episode special on arbitrary detention and the decline of press freedoms, with two people who have been wrongfully detained.

David Wroe speaks to distinguished journalist and author Peter Greste, about his experience of detention in Egypt, how governments should respond to the use of arbitrary detention, and his take on the recent prisoner swap between the US, Russia and other countries which saw the return of the Wall Street Journal’s Evan Gershkovich to the United States.

Tasfia Zeba from the ASPI DC office speaks to Kylie Moore-Gilbert, academic, writer and co-founder of the Australian Wrongful and Arbitrary Detention Alliance, or AWADA. Tasfia asks Kylie about her wrongful detention in Iran, lessons countries can learn from each other’s experiences including how to disincentivise state hostage taking and why governments should impose Magnitsky sanctions on those responsible.

Guests:

In the next episode of The Sydney Dialogue Summit Sessions, it’s all about economic security.

ASPI’s Executive Director, Justin Bassi, interviews Abigaël Vasselier, head of the Foreign Relations team at the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) in Berlin.

They discuss – and debate – how the EU and individual member states have responded to Russia’s war on Ukraine, Beijing’s use of economic power to coerce and the increasing alignment and cooperation between Beijing and Moscow.

They also talk about critical technologies and supply chain vulnerabilities; and how Beijing has taken advantage of inconsistencies and different national approaches to security, including on policies such as 5G in Germany.

The Sydney Dialogue (TSD) is ASPI’s flagship initiative on cyber and critical technologies. The summit brings together world leaders, global technology industry innovators and leading thinkers on cyber and critical technology for frank and productive discussions. TSD 2024 will address the advances made across these technologies and their impact on our societies, economies and national security.

Find out more about TSD 2024 here: https://tsd.aspi.org.au/

Note: This interview was recorded on 9 July.

Guests:

Justin Bassi

Abigaël Vasselier

The Sydney Dialogue (TSD) is just weeks away.

To help our listeners prepare for the forthcoming discussions at TSD, we are bringing you an interview with Gilman Louie, who was the first CEO of In-Q-Tel— set up in 1999 by the CIA as an independent, not-for-profit strategic investment firm —and Commissioner on the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence from 2018-2021. Gilman is co-founder and partner at Alsop Louie Partners, and he is also a co-founder and CEO of the America’s Frontier Fund, so there is no one better placed to talk about strategic competition, innovation and investment.

Director of the Sydney Dialogue, Alex Caples, asks Gilman about the role of technology as a component of state power, how the innovation landscape has changed in the United States and how the government and private sector are working together on innovation and investment in the design and manufacturing of technologies.

TSD is ASPI’s flagship event for cyber and critical technologies. The summit brings together world leaders, global technology industry innovators and leading thinkers on cyber and critical technology for frank and productive discussions. TSD 2024 will address the advances made across these technologies and their impact on our societies, economies and national security.

Find out more about TSD 2024 here: https://tsd.aspi.org.au/

Guests:

Dr Alexandra Caples

Gilman Louie

Subsea cables have been a major focus in the media lately. Just last week at the Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Tokyo, Australia announced the launch of its new Cable Connectivity and Resilience Centre—its contribution to the Quad Leaders’ Partnership for Cable Connectivity and Resilience.

So, what are subsea or undersea cables and why are they important? In this short explainer, Olivia Nelson speaks with ASPI experts Jocelinn Kang and Jessie Jacob about this vital strategic asset, where their vulnerabilities lie, and their role in Australia’s resilience.

Guests:

Olivia Nelson

Jocelinn Kang

Jessie Jacob

AUSMIN (Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations) – what is it, how did it come about and why is it important?

Ahead of next week’s meeting on 6 August in the United States between Australia’s Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defence and the US Secretaries of State and Defense, this week’s episode of Stop the World is a special explainer.

ASPI’s own former AUSMIN attendees, Executive Director, Justin Bassi, and Director of Strategic Communications, David Wroe, reminisce about the annual AUSMIN meeting, its Cold War history and its ongoing significance for the Australia-US relationship, how it has evolved over time, and what you need to know ahead of next week's 34th meeting.

The episode features reflections from the Hon Kim Beazley AC, an AUSMIN founding member who attended the first five meetings as Minister for Defence before returning to the table as Ambassador, and Marise Payne, one of only two people to have attended AUSMIN as both Foreign and Defence minister throughout six meetings. They provide behind-the-scenes insights into why AUSMIN formed, what the meetings were like, the benefits of AUSMIN for both countries and some of the most significant moments across AUSMIN’s history.

For anyone interested in understanding one of the key mechanisms in the US-Australia alliance, this is a useful primer to next week's meeting!

In today’s episode, senior analyst Dr Alex Bristow is joined

They discuss this week’s “blizzard of Indo-Pacific diplomacy”, which has included the Quad Foreign Minister’s meeting in Tokyo, a US-Japan 2+2, an ASEAN meeting in Laos, and a visit by Foreign Minister Penny Wong to several countries in Asia including South Korea, where she made strong remarks about North Korea’s deepening ties with Russia.

They also cover the prospect of Japan’s joining AUKUS Pillar Two, to collaborate on cutting-edge defence technologies.

It’s a fascinating recap on some of this week’s big