Byte Into IT

Although the podcast format of Byte Into It has now wrapped, this show continues to be broadcast on Triple R. You can now listen to new episodes on Triple R’s FM On Demand service at rrr.org.au/explore/programs/byte-into-it. Thanks for listening!

On this final episode of Byte Into IT for the year, the whole crew is in and they're joined by Kate Crawford, an internationally-leading scholar of artificial intelligence and its impacts. Her most recent book, Atlas of AI: Power, Politics and The Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence explores AI's rising impact.

Eric Jong and Dan Salmon have a chat with with multidisciplinary artist and educator, Sandy Ma, to discuss her installation work Touching Wires which invites softness into our technological relationships and articulates what collaboration and co-creation means when artificial intelligence is involved. In her works Sandy explores the intersections of computing, electronics, and sound, and is currently completing her Honours research project exploring tactility in Human-AI interaction.

Vanessa, Dan, Eric, and Mike are joined by Alison Bird, program manager at Climate Salad. Bird is an advocate and connector in Australia’s growing climate tech scene, working with a range of innovative startups across the country, with a focus on supporting those developing groundbreaking solutions for a sustainable future, Alison fosters partnerships and brings people together to drive climate tech innovation forward. She discusses the 2024 Australian Climate Tech Connect & Awards and explores Climate Salad's goals and network.

You’re due for an update, luckily Lily, Vanessa and Eric are here to upgrade your tech knowledge software! Jongkil Jay Jeong knows human error is the weakest link in the cyber security chain. He speaks to Byte co-hosts Lily, Vanessa and Eric in response to his recent Conversation article Human error is the weakest link in the cyber security chain. Here are 3 ways to fix it and to remind us to stop using the same password for everything! Plus, Alexar Pendashteh tells us all about this year's SXSW and auIGF. Listen to hear an important tip for any future SXSW attendees (hint: it has to do with lunch).

This week Rowena Murrey, Dan Salmon and Eric Jong chat with games composer and freelance reviewer Meghann O’Neill about all the indie games and they saw at PAX during Melbourne International Games Week. Plus, Dr Jessica Court , researcher at the Queensland University of Technology joins the team to discuss how they've been trying to make train travel a little bit easier for the Hearing Impaired using AI Techology.

Vanessa and Eric are joined by CEO of WorkVentures, Caroline McDaid, to discuss 'digital poverty' during Anti-Poverty Week. They are also joined by Eduardo Araujo Oliveira, Senior Lecturer in the School of Computing and Information Systems at UniMelb to chat about how AI tools can help clean up online spaces that are rife with toxicity.

Vanessa Toholka and Dan Salmon are joined by Vice Chancellor's Senior Research Fellow at RMIT, Dr Sam Whiting, to discuss his four-year project on crisis in the Australian music industries, with a focus on the impact of generative artificial intelligence, automation technologies, and other contemporary challenges. They also chat about the evolving landscape of audio production in the Australian videogames industry. Vanessa and Dan then discuss technological developments involving smart glasses and privacy risks following a Havard student experiment on Meta Ray-Bans Smart Glasses successfully being able to access personal data of strangers through facial recognition technologies.

Lilly Ryan chats with Nick Thorpe and Karen Stewart on 'Live Music Locator', the platform that compiles the where, when, and what for all the live gigs in City of Yarra.

This week, Hosts Vanessa Toholka and Lilly Ryan are joined by Alexar Pendashteh to discuss AI standards. They're also joined by Dr. Jessica Balanzategui discuss Childrens use of streaming services and content discoverabilty.

This week, Vanessa Toholka and guest co-host Jack Knight take us through their Games Week ep! First up is Amy McNickle, one of High Score's co-curators, on High Score and Melbourne International Games Week. APRA AMCOS’s High Score returns on Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th October as part of Melbourne International Games Week 2024, bringing together music creators and game developers to explore the important role that audio and sound plays in game design and experience. Plus, Raelene Knowles COO of IGEA and key organiser of Games Connect Asia Pacific, discusses why, in the current economic climate, GCAP offers a great opportunity for Australian game developers. Schedule and tickets available now!

Vanessa and Rowena invite Charles Darwin University professor Dr Bharanidharan Shanmugan onto the show to discuss their concerns about smartwatches and whether they're just as vulnerable to hackers as our other devices. The team also chat to Monash university research-fellow and film-maker, Jeni Lee, who explores the interaction between people and digital government systems in their documentary 'I am not a number'.

Dan Morganti, Dan Salmon and Eric Jong have Hamid Sohrabi on the phone revealing a new self-reporting tool that detects early onset of dementia. Susan Rossell from Swinburne also dials in to chat about the link between different tech and its positive influences on cognitive health.

PhD graduate and engineer, Bautik Joshi, sits down with the Byte team to discuss what could really be in store with the world of AI. Following their experience at Adobe, CSIRO and Canva, Bautik provides their own professional insight and how we may actually need to retract AI tools back to their fundamentals for the utmost productivity.

Dr Cath Latham provides some insight on the Australian National University's latest report regarding schooling and digital literacy. The team later investigate what Instagram's recent AI update may mean for the consumer and whether we may start seeing some trends in 'social-based' AI.

Lilly Ryan speaks with technology, politics and public policy expert Verity Harding on her book: AI Needs You: How We Can Change AI's Future and Save Our Own.

This week, Dan Salmon, Dan Morganti and Vanessa Toholka welcome socio-technology ethicist and founder of Trustworthy By Design Nate Kinch onto Byte Into IT to discuss Marc Andreessen's Techno-Optimist Manifesto. They also chat about the nostalgia of FPS video games and boomer shooters.

Hosts Vanessa and Rowena speaks to Tom Howard (Breeze) regarding a range of technologies involved with wine and agriculture industries. They also discuss security issues with WiFi networks.

Lilly Ryan speaks to Justin Warren on his recent Freedom of Information Act win in the Federal Court regarding early Robodebt documents. Plus Dan Salmon dives into the week's tech news including the release of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, and a woman with over 7,000 browser tabs!

The Byte Into It crew say goodbye to presenter Jo Eaton, discuss digital rights with chair of Electronic Frontiers Australia John Payne and chat with Jen Payne founder of STEMpals (stempals.org.au)