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What is Q-Day and how scared should we all be? Jul 24, 2026 0:29:06 Quantum computing sounds like science fiction, but all of a sudden the biggest names in tech are treating it like the next industrial arms race. Google, Microsoft, IBM are all chasing breakthroughs that could transform everything from medicine to finance.However! It does pose a serious security threat. Cybersecurity experts are warning those same machines could one day unravel th

(Nearly) everything that happened in AI this week Jul 17, 2026 0:29:03 Anthropic has just released the Spotify Wrapped equivalent of Claude. Claude Reflect claims it can help you optimise your AI use. But will a tool built by an AI company ever genuinely encourage you to use it less? Also on the program, the humans hired to train AI are secretly getting AI to do it. How does this "AI inbreeding" degrade quality?Meta launched a tool that would allow

The UN calls for a ban on 'killer robots' Jul 10, 2026 0:29:06 Microsoft and Xbox have laid off thousands of staff. Sony, Xbox and publishers like Rockstar all seem to be moving away from physical discs. And the UN Secretary General has called for a ban on AI powered ‘killer robots’. What does it all mean? GUESTS:Kai Riemer, professor at the University of Sydney Business School and Director of Sydney Executive Plus.Gianfranco Di Giovanni, ga

Will fining social media companies make them uphold the ban? Jul 3, 2026 0:28:20 The Australian government wants to double the penalty tech companies will face for not keeping kids off their social media platforms. The proposed bill would also compel companies to release documents that prove whether they have been keeping kids off their platforms. How effective will this actually be?Plus, there's been shifts in the energy sector that mean everyday Australians

How do you stop being addicted to your phone? Jun 26, 2026 0:29:03 If your phone seems impossible to put down, that's because it's intentional. So how can we break our addictions?Also on the show, how safe is online voting? With our traditional political system in a bit of a chaotic state at the moment, it's safe to say we're lacking trust in our politicians. But Australians are still very trusting in our electoral processes. Will changing to on

Is it wrong to have robots take care of our parents? Jun 19, 2026 0:29:05 Tech is being marketed as the solution to taking care of our aging parents and our young children: AI companions, improved surveillance tools, and wearables. How much are robots truly able to replace genuine human care, and ethically should we let them?Plus, how much do we actually know about the effect of screen time hours on children's brains? Turns out, some of the initial exp

Leaked document reveals Microsoft wants you "addicted" to their product Jun 12, 2026 0:28:00 While Meta and Google are fighting lawsuits about their technology being intentionally addictive, Microsoft’s strategy deck for their new AI assistant Scout has been leaked. It lays out three phases of launch, and phase one is simply "make people addicted."Apple just held it’s Worldwide Developers Conference, where they announced an "entirely new version of Siri". How different c

Would you pay to use Instagram? Jun 5, 2026 0:29:04 Meta has officially launched premium subscription tiers across Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp. Does this mean we'll finally be able to rid ourselves of ads on social media?Plus, it's been a rough few weeks for the 'clankers'. During Vivid, nearly 90 drones fell from the sky into Sydney Harbour. And they're not alone. Humanoid robots are finding creative new ways to embarrass th

Can the Pope influence the future of AI? May 29, 2026 0:29:06 The Catholic Church has entered the AI debate, with Pope Leo XIV warning against "digital slaveries" while seated beside the co-founder of Anthropic. We ask whether the Vatican is positioning itself as a moral counterweight to Silicon Valley — and whether religion could shape the future of AI.Google says AI-generated answers are the future of search, replacing the familiar list o

Is your podcast host... human? May 22, 2026 0:29:06 Amazon's new Alexa feature allows anyone to create a podcast using AI. Could this be a genuine competitor to the podcast industry? Or will it become another dangerous source of misinformation?And Meta's latest parental controls promise greater oversight of teens' social media use through AI age checks and a centralised Family Center, but their effectiveness ultimately depends on

Are we nostalgic for a 90s that didn't exist? May 15, 2026 0:29:07 Mixtape is a new Australian-made video game set in the 90s featuring burned CDs, shopping trolley rides and feelings of adolescent freedom. Nostalgia for that era is trending, so what is it about those years that makes us feel so fond? And are we remembering it correctly?Plus, AI is making the internet sound like one not-quite-real person. What are the new indicators of AI writin

Can we force data centres to clean up their act? May 8, 2026 0:29:06 Book publishers including Hachette and Macmillan have filed a lawsuit in New York against Mark Zuckerberg and Meta. They're trying to stop AI companies from allegedly illegally copying millions of books and articles from piracy sites to train their models. How likely is it that the case will succeed?Locally, there's a NSW inquiry into data centres. Can a state government actually

Why Elon Musk is taking OpenAI to court May 1, 2026 0:29:04 xAI's Elon Musk and Open AI’s Sam Altman were once on the same team, united by the belief that artificial intelligence was too important to be left to profit motives. Now, Musk is accusing Open AI of betraying its original charitable mission. How genuine are his motivations?Plus, Microsoft Xbox chief Phil Spencer has retired. Who will replace him, and how will it change how we ga

Will you send an AI twin to work for you? Apr 24, 2026 0:29:07 Imagine an AI model built on everything you know, how you communicate, how you reason, how you write, trained to act and respond like you so thoroughly that it can attend meetings, answer questions, and handle tasks on your behalf while you do something else entirely. This reality isn't as far away as you might think. Mark Zuckerberg is already making one.Plus, Apple has a new CE

The AI model “too dangerous” for the public Apr 17, 2026 0:29:07 Anthropic claims its latest AI model, Claude Mythos, is “too dangerous” to release given its exceptional cyber hacking capabilities. Is it all a PR stunt, or is this a genuine threat? Plus, the FBI extracted messages from the secure messaging app Signal after exploiting a loophole involving iPhone notification databases. So how secure is Signal? And how might the loophole be clos

Artemis II isn't the only cool thing happening in space tech at the moment Apr 10, 2026 0:28:20 In this special episode, what's happening in Australia's space industry? Between Australia's first lunar rover, and putting plants on the moon (this year!), we'll take a peek behind the curtain.Space technology is having a moment right now. NASA’s Artemis mission is the first time humans have launched themselves into space since 1972. The 2026 Australian of the Year, Katherine Be

Does Australia have the energy and water to power the AI data centre boom? Apr 3, 2026 0:29:04 The world's biggest tech companies are scoping Australia out as a data centre hub. As they see it, we have an abundance of space, electricity and water. But do we actually have enough?About 270 data centres have already been built in Australia, and there are a whole lot more on the way.The amount of electricity and water these massive buildings are projected to consume is stagger

On the down-low: Do tech companies have a duty of care when it comes to kids? Apr 1, 2026 0:15:00 John Livingstone is the Head of Digital Policy at UNICEF Australia. He's been talking directly to students about how the Australian social media ban is affecting young people, and whether it's making their lives better.This is Rae's full conversation with John. You can hear a broader analysis of the social media ban in our recent episode.----------This is the first edition of our

Is Australia's social media ban *actually* working? Mar 27, 2026 0:29:06 Australia banned under-16s from social media at the start of summer, and the world has been watching.Today, we're doing a full audit. What the ban is doing, what it isn't, and whether we even built it on the right foundations.GUESTS:Josh Taylor -- technology reporter for The Guardian.Jocelyn Brewer -- psychologist and founder of Digital Nutrition.With a special appearance from Jo

Who owns art created inside video games? Mar 20, 2026 0:29:06 There's a fresh wave of headlines claiming that AI is eating the workforce whole, and that the only way to have a job is to become the person who builds the robots. Is this a reasonable assumption? Or has "AI-washing" just become the most convenient way to excuse a restructure?Plus, a genuine artistic community has grown around taking photos in video games. Who owns those creatio

Your free VPN might be spying on you Mar 13, 2026 0:29:06 VPNs have topped the charts this week, after major adult websites blocked Australian users. Several of these most popular VPNs are free, but at what cost?Plus, fake videos of the war in Iran have been circulating online. How do we tell what's real from what's not?Also, the Macbook Neo. It runs on an iPhone chip, is remarkably cheap, and comes in a variety of colours. Has Apple be

Trump takes on Anthropic AI and Meta's AI glasses changing privacy Mar 6, 2026 0:29:05 A US government official has called Anthropic a national security risk, after the company drew ethical lines around its technology being used for mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. How comfortable would you be with AI firing missiles?Plus, Facebook's parent company, Meta, sold seven million pairs of AI-enabled Ray-Bans last year. And now they want to add fac

Does Elon Musk's X make you more right wing? Feb 27, 2026 0:29:05 New research about the social media platform X suggests that just a few weeks on what used to be Twitter can shift political attitudes AND the effects can last long after we log off. So is it really possible to use these sites at all without being affected by the system?Plus, Australia's planned AI advisory body has been scrapped after 15 months of preparation. It's been replaced

Did AI secretly make your favourite video game? Feb 20, 2026 0:29:02 AI is sliding into game development pipelines, but the rules around telling players what is machine-made and what is made by people are patchy at best. So, how much transparency do players deserve, and does it even matter?Also on the program, how the RAM shortage is impacting the price of game consoles. And, why VR is better suited to the medical and training fields than replacin

How tech is changing how we watch the Winter Olympics Feb 13, 2026 0:28:00 The Winter Olympics is using drones, AI and cloud-based broadcasting to track curling stones, freeze mid-air jumps, even talk to an official Winter Olympics chatbot. It’s turning sports spectatorship into something more high tech than ever before. Is it likely to be used in other sports?Plus, a battle is being waged in court between a 20-year-old and Meta/YouTube. The argument is

Are there more bots than people on the internet? Feb 6, 2026 0:29:00 Having an AI agent act as your personal executive assistant may seem like a sweet deal, but security experts have a few concerns.Also on the program, Moltbook is a new social media platform specfically designed for AI agents to chat. So far, they’ve started a religion, made their own scripture and called for humanity’s downfall. What happens when we anthropomorphise binary code?

What is Upscrolled, Australia’s newest viral social media platform? Jan 30, 2026 0:28:10 TikTok has finally struck a deal to avoid being banned in the United States. Their privacy policy also got a controversial update. So, who owns US TikTok now? And what difference will it make to users?Also on the program, there’s a new social media site going viral – Upscrolled. What is this Australian-owned site, exactly? And finally, OpenAI is trialling ads on ChatGPT. The comp

Spotify was copied by a piracy archive. Why does that matter? Jan 23, 2026 0:29:00 Plus! Social media site Digg is back. For those who remember, it may feel like returning to what was good about the internet. Is this the sign of a new era for social media? And how long can it hold out being monetised?Also, why gaming in a group, even publicly... outside, is becoming more popular.GUESTS:Phoebe Toups Dougas, associate professor of human-centred computing in the E

Opt Out 05 | Can you ever really opt out of online life? Dec 19, 2025 0:29:04 After weeks of trying to audit, delete, and lock down her digital life, Rae hits the big, uncomfortable question: what if you can’t opt out of the internet, even if you really want to?In the final episode of Opt Out, Rae speaks with Jathan Sadowski, senior lecturer at Monash University and proud Luddite, about how surveillance creeps into everyday life — from smart cars to smart

Opt Out 04 | What did I just agree to? Dec 19, 2025 0:29:04 Every time you click 'accept' online, you’re legally agreeing to something. The problem is… you probably have no idea what that something is.In episode four of Opt Out, Rae tackles the fine print: the privacy policies and terms and conditions we all scroll past because life is short and the language is cooked. She speaks with Dr Katharine Kemp, privacy law expert and associate pr

Opt Out 03 | How not to get hacked Dec 19, 2025 0:29:03 If someone tried to hack you right now… how long would it take?In episode three of Opt Out, Rae confronts her own extremely average cyber hygiene and tries to stop being the digital equivalent of someone who leaves their keys in the front door. She speaks with Vanessa Teague, cryptographer and privacy advocate, to unpack why passwords matter (and why humans are terrible at them),

Opt Out 02 | Can you delete yourself from the internet? Dec 19, 2025 0:29:03 The internet knows a lot about you, but what if you wanted to take it all back and delete yourself all together?In episode two of Opt Out, Rae tries to do the unthinkable: delete herself from the internet. She talks to Lawrence Gentilello, founder of data-removal service Optery, about what it really takes to scrub your details from people-search sites — and why it’s harder than i

Opt Out 01 | The guide to taking back control of your online life Dec 19, 2025 0:29:00 We all know the internet knows a bit about us. But… how much, exactly? And what happens if you actually try to look?In the first episode of Opt Out, Rae volunteers as tribute and starts poking around her own digital footprint — checking data breaches, Googling herself, and asking some pretty uncomfortable questions about where our personal info ends up. Along the way, she chats w

What were the biggest stories in tech for 2025? Dec 12, 2025 0:29:03 It was a huge year for tech in 2025, and there were a few stories that hooked our attention more than others. The introduction of the social media ban, and the slow tease of details across the year about its implementation took up a significant chunk of our focus, while AI being embedded (to varying degrees of success) into absolutely everything meant that it was also impossible

Is the AI boom going to spell the end of democracy in Australia? Dec 5, 2025 0:29:05 With AI in our newsrooms, our universities, and our courtrooms, the way we understand the truth has been forever changed. But could it be for the better? Or have we embarked on an unstoppable march towards a new understanding of democracy. How do we democratise AI development when a handful of tech companies run the digital world? And could we implement government reforms in Aust

Do androids dream of electric housework? The liabilities of a $20k humanoid robot butler Nov 28, 2025 0:29:06 If you were to picture the ideal robot form to vacuum your floor all by itself, what do you see? Is it a small UFO-shaped disc that whizzes under couches, or is it a humanoid robot with eyes and ears tracking your every move? The new 1X Neo robot has been launched and has been marketed as a 'robot butler', but what issues arise when we start making the tech that serves us look mo

Why is the government using AI to help create NDIS plans? Nov 21, 2025 0:29:06 Roblox has been one of the worst culprits for child safety in the games world, and they’ve come up with something to supposedly keep our kids safe. ‘Age-gating’ is designed to keep people of different ages in different parts of the online game, but how accurate is this age verification? And is it going to cause more problems than solutions? Also, the government has been found usi

Is it possible for an AI to 'hasten the coming of Christ's return'? Nov 14, 2025 0:29:05 What happens when theology and technology collide? There's a new tech startup dedicated to building a Christian AI. It's called Gloo, launched by ex-Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger, and they say it's going to 'hasten the coming of Christ's return'. Also, AI chat services are helping us speak to God. From innocent Bible chatbots to an AI priest that told people to baptise their babies

Self-driving taxis could be coming to Australia, but are we ready? Nov 7, 2025 0:29:06 How well do you think the streets of Sydney would handle self-driving taxis? What about those same self-driving taxis navigating the Melbourne tram lines? Could you imagine it? Waymo is set to launch self-driving taxis and Ubers in Australia soon after talks with Transport NSW, and not everyone is happy with it. Also, Elon Musk has launched his very own version of the people's en

Would you use ChatGPT now that it's in its horny era? Oct 31, 2025 0:29:06 How much do you trust the AI chatbots you use on a day-to-day basis? Once you send your prompt off into cyberspace, how do you now no one is interfering with it somewhere in between? Prompt injections are an increasingly common vulnerability in generative AI services and they could be tricking you into giving away majorly sensitive information.Also, Google announced a breakthroug

How did a global Amazon outage bring down almost 50 other major tech companies? Oct 24, 2025 0:29:06 When a major outage hit Amazon Web Services this week, websites and apps started falling like dominoes -- from Square to Duolingo, Netflix, and Adobe, why do so many major players rely on a single company to host their data? And should we be calling time on these pseudo tech-monopolies? Also, we investigate whether its actually true that your iPhone slows down every time a new on

What happens when you try to ban a generation from the internet? Oct 17, 2025 0:29:04 The Online Safety Amendment Bill is the name on everyone’s lips this week and as the implementation date looms closer, we take a deep dive into some of the people most affected by the upcoming ban, and lay out all the info you need to know if you’re a parent or teen trying to duck and dodge this murky legislation. GUESTS:Leo Puglisi, teenager and Founder of 6 News Australia Niki

We've got tonnes of space waste orbiting our Earth, is there a way to clean up our act? Oct 10, 2025 0:29:18 There are over 170 million pieces of space junk orbiting Earth right now, and that number is only growing as space orbit becomes more accessible. How are we going to deal with this astronomical littering problem, while keeping up with our satellite-hungry tech needs?Also, an increase in light and radio pollution is making it harder for astronomers to study the stars. How can spac

If 'simulated gambling' is banned in kids games, why are we still seeing Loot Boxes everywhere? Oct 3, 2025 0:28:59 You step up to a box full of prizes, and knowing that there is a chance you may not win anything, you give it your real-life money anyway. No, this isn't a game at the casino, it's a video game that children as young as four are playing in their spare time. Last year, Australia introduced classification to prevent things like this from happening, so why are we still seeing Loot B

Is it true that AI is going to add $60 billion to Australia's economy? Sep 26, 2025 0:28:58 The Australian Finance Industry Association has modelled AI's contribution to economic growth in the years ahead. It found that "scaling", or expanding, the use of AI could add up to $60 billion to GDP over the next decade. But who is actually going to benefit from this, and where are we getting these numbers from?Also, we explain the blossoming $100 billion bromance between Nvid

How fanfiction took over the world (and stayed free) Sep 19, 2025 0:29:04 Fanfiction has gone from photocopied zines traded at conventions to millions of stories shared online. From smut-filled Harry Potter ships to the fic that birthed Fifty Shades of Grey, we explore fanfiction's growth, its influence on writing and culture, and how Archive of Our Own has stayed free and fan-run in an internet that charges for almost everything.GUESTS:Danielle Binks,

How did an Australian team make the biggest video game in the world today? Sep 12, 2025 0:29:04 This week, an Australian video game called Hollow Knight: Silksong is the biggest video game in the world. It’s made by a small team out of Adelaide and has already sold millions of copies worldwide. What could this mean for our quietly successful games industry here in Australia? And why do we still have so much trouble seeing video games as a form of art? Also, new research is

Why is Australia spending a billion dollars on a quantum computer that doesn't exist yet? Sep 5, 2025 0:28:57 2025 is the 'International Year of Quantum Science and Technology', but what actually is quantum science? IBM and AMD are teaming up to champion 'quantum-centric supercomputing' – but what's the difference between a supercomputer and a regular computer? Will we ever see a supercomputer show up in our own homes? And why is Australia making a billion-dollar bet on a quantum computi

Wimbledon broke 148 years of tradition to replace 300 line judges with AI -- will it be worth it? Aug 29, 2025 0:29:02 How much is human adjudication in sport worth, and how much more accurate is Wimbledon's new system? Plus, the CSIRO and the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) have joined forces to research how AI can be used ethically and efficiently in sports.

How do you protect yourself against AI voice scams? Aug 22, 2025 0:29:06 When 1 in 5 people have been the victim of cybercrime and AI voice scams are on the rise, how do we protect ourselves online? Plus Google may soon be the default browser on Android phones in Australia and say 'hello!' to your new best friend, with new AI-powered kids toys.

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