Think: Digital Futures

Which groups of Australians are benefiting most from digital mental health services? And how are psychologists adapting their practice to incorporate these new tools?

Featured:

Richard Mason, Batyr Lived Experience Speaker

Bethany Wootton, Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology, UTS

Producer/Presenter: Julia Carr-Catzel

Music: Epidemic Sound

The technological capabilities of 3D printers continue to advance. In this episode, we explore the capability of 3D bio-printing, the printing of biological structures, such as heart tissue, bones, and skin. Could 3D printed heart tissue replace heart transplants in the future? What hurdles are there to implementing this technology in hospitals in Australia?

Featured:

Dr Carmine Gentile, lecturer at UTS School of Biomedical Engineering, group leader of the cardiovascular regeneration group at the University of Technology Sydney and the University of Sydney

Associate Professor Payal Mukherjee, an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) surgeon, ENT lead for research from Royal Prince Alfred’s Institute of Academic Surgery, Clinical Associate Professor of surgery at the University of Sydney, Adjunct Professor at the University of Wollongong and the current chair of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons NSW.

Dr Matthew Rimmer, Professor of intellectual property and innovation at the Queensland University of Technology.

Presenter/Producer: Marlene Even

Music: Epidemic Sound

Sound: 3D bio-printer recording, by Dr Carmine Gentile, second recording by Associate Professor Payal Mukherjee, Professor Gordon Wallace AO, Director ARC Centre for Electromaterial Science and his team.

Machines are beginning to replace human judgement and other cognitive tasks, not just physical labour, seeing millions of unemployed in coming decades. What will become of the unemployed masses? Idleness and depression? Or bountiful travel and leisure? And how will we distribute welfare equally?

Featured:

Dikai Liu, Director, Robotics Institute, UTS

Benjamin Hunnicutt, historian, professor of work and leisure, Iowa University

Producer/Presenter: Julia Carr-Catzel

Music: Epidemic sound

How are NFTs redefining the art world? Are blockchain powered marketplaces empowering artists or harming the environment?

Featured:

Craig Blackmoore, digital artist, founder House of Blackmoore

Jaysson Guerrero, senior research consultant, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney

Producer/presenter: Julia Carr-Catzel

Music:

Epidemic sound

Some of us, Craig Blackmoore

Why has Google fired members of its ethical AI team? How pervasive are problematic algorithms in society? And who is holding developers of new technologies to account? We speak to leading AI researchers about current challenges facing the industry.

Featured:

Tiberio Caetano, Chief Scientist, Gradient Institute

Professor Fang Chen, Executive Director of Data Science, University of Technology Sydney

Producer/presenter: Julia Carr-Catzel

Music: Epidemic sound

Online devices are becoming ubiquitous in our lives. Some of them are convenient, or even essential- others are just fun novelties. But many people haven’t considered the security risk of, for example, having a camera connected to the internet in their home- or a doll that records their children’s voices.

In this episode we’re looking at the risks and benefits of Internet of Things technology- and how you can make sure your devices aren’t giving away your personal information

They say that nothing gets things moving like a crisis.

In this episode of Think: Digital Futures, we’ll take a closer look at how your smartphone is fundamentally changing the way we interact with government services.

In today’s world of delivery food and Zoom meetings, should accessing government services be as easy as ordering a pad thai?

Or will ridding the public service of the pens and paper that have fueled their longevity simply end in one big glitch?

Sensors, ever smaller and cheaper, can collect ever more nuanced sets of data. With that data, we can understand our world in ever more detail. That can mean cleaner air in our cities, more efficient water usage, or even saving a rainforest species.

As climate breakdown makes farming an evermore unstable and unpredictable industry, technology is developing ways to maximise the efficiency of agriculture. This episode we look at how internet enabled devices, machine learning, and artificial intelligence are being used to improve farming practices in Australia.

Drones are all around us these days... everyone seems to own one, for better or worse. But should we be more wary of these flying sentinels? While they've proven to be effective in some of our biggest challenges, like wildlife conservation, they also pose massive risks to our civil liberties, and widen the surveillance state.