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  Roblox under pressure from Australia's eSafety Commissioner over child safety 11.09.2026 29min

  The eSafety Commissioner has accepted a court-enforceable plan from Roblox to address child safety concerns after questions were raised about whether the platform was meeting its obligations under Australia's Online Safety Act. We'll unpack what parents need to know. Also on the show, Microsoft is putting time limits on its Xbox Cloud Gaming subscribers. What is cloud gaming, and what does this tell us about the future of digital ownership? Plus, Melbourne International Games Week returns from 2-11 October. Is it worth going? GUESTS: Edmond Tran, managing editor of This Week in Video Games Gemma Driscoll, video game commentator and host of Good Game Spawn Squad. ------------ This episode was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Burramattagal, Darug, Gundungurra, and Wurundjeri peoples. ------------ Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.
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  What Australia's Privacy Act reforms mean for the tech you use 04.09.2026 29min

  Australia's proposed Privacy Act reforms are some of the boldest changes to privacy law we've seen in years. How could it change the tech we use every day? And does this mean Australia is setting a new global privacy standard, or catching up to the rest of the world? Also on the program, one of Australia's spiciest privacy debates has been the use of wearable cameras. The e-Safety Commissioner has proposed that smart glasses should have an automatic blurring feature. How easy would that be to implement? Would it change the effectiveness of the glasses? And, there are now cameras in toothbrushes! Specifically, Dyson has just announced an AI-powered toothbrush that helps users water floss their teeth. Will this revamp oral health tech, or is it just another bizarre gadget?   GUESTS: Alice Clarke, freelance tech journalist and author of the Through The Looking Glass Substack. Karin Verspoor, Dean of the School of Computing Technologies at RMIT University. ------------ This episode was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Burramattagal, Darug, Gundungurra, and Wurundjeri peoples. ------------ Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.
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  How Ukraine's military drones are changing warfare forever 28.08.2026 29min

  Drones went from being flying cameras to autonomous weapons within a handful of years. Our guest, Cory Alpert, explains what he's seen on the front lines of Ukraine's drone war, and why drone warfare is changing international conflict forever. Also in this episode, we check in on how drones might be used elsewhere: exploring caves on the Moon, patrolling beneath the ocean and, of course, delivering dinner. How much of this future is Australia actually ready for?  GUESTS: Cory Alpert, researcher at the University of Melbourne and former Biden-era White House staffer. He's also spent the last few months in Ukraine. Leigh Stark, technology journalist at Pickr.com.au. ------------ This episode was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Burramattagal, Darug, Gundungurra, and Wurundjeri peoples. ------------ Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.
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  How WA police are using facial recognition technology 21.08.2026 29min

  Facial recognition cameras are being rolled out in Western Australia by the police force. Whilst its a new policing tactic in Australia, major retailers including Bunnings, Woolworths and Coles have tested it. How does police use of the technology differ from the retail use? And if you're not a person of interest, what happens to your biometric data? Also on the show, an ABC News Verify investigation has found Facebook's parent company, Meta, is paying several controversial online creators to make content that generates huge engagement. Among them is a white nationalist with neo-Nazi links, and the founder of an anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown group. How much are these creators making? When does the pursuit of engagement become the monetisation of outrage? And, tech companies like Amazon and Anthropic are seeking out second hand books as part of a new AI model training plan. Why are they turning to physical libraries, and what happens to the books after they've been processed? GUESTS: Georgia Dixon, Editor at WhistleOut.   Chris Berg, Professor of Economics at RMIT. ------------ This episode was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Burramattagal, Darug, Gundungurra, and Wurundjeri peoples. ------------ Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.
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  The Renter Algorithm: Dark patterns and the illusion of choice 14.08.2026 28min

  Dark patterns. They're the manipulative practices that are part of the foundations of our online life... and apparently our rental lives. Confirm shaming, biased framing, and bundled consent are all examples of dark patterns. What are they? What are they doing to our ability to make choices? And how do they relate to rental applications? And once we've had to fill in these rental application forms, giving over up to 50 points of data to be stored online, how secure is that data? And do we have a choice not to use these platforms in our modern world? This is episode 2 of our two-part investigation into rental technologies. GUESTS: Samantha Floreani, PhD candidate at Monash University with the ADM+S Centre. Her research — The Machine-Readable Renter — examines the role of digital technologies in Australia’s private rental sector, and its impact on renters and housing justice. Lina Pržhedetsky, research fellow at the University of Melbourne Law School, and ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society. She specialises in emerging technology policy. Kylie Davis, founder and president of The Proptech Association Australia. John Gilmovich, founder and director of Real Property Manager, and President of the Property Owners Association of NSW. He's also a licensed real estate agent. Jordan van den Lamb, housing activist and creator of Shit Rentals. You can find the subreddit here. AKA @purplepingers. A big thanks to our guests for this episode. References: Sam mentioned a Guardian article that covered data security. It's this one. Rae mentioned our previous series, Opt Out 01 | The guide to taking back control of your online life. ------------ This episode was produced on Burramattagal, Darug, Gundungurra, Wurundjeri, Woi Wurrung, and Cobowra country. ------------ Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.
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  The Renter Algorithm: The invisible system judging tenants 07.08.2026 29min

  The Privacy Commissioner has put the RentTech industry on notice over 'unfair and excessive personal information collection'. If you've rented a home recently, you've probably used one of the online platforms that promise to make applying easier. Submit all your personal details in one place, and they'll share it with the relevant real estate agents. But somewhere along the way, the intention changed. It became less about proof you have a job, can pay the rent, and won't trash the house, and more about your 'risk profile'. These platforms are collecting up to 50 points of personal data, which some agencies are using AI to sort through.  So, do these tools - used this way - serve renters, or exacerbate an existing power imbalance? And how might we use them better? GUESTS: Samantha Floreani, PhD candidate at Monash University with the ADM+S Centre. Her research — The Machine-Readable Renter — examines the role of digital technologies in Australia’s private rental sector, and its impact on renters and housing justice. Lina Pržhedetsky, research fellow at the University of Melbourne Law School, and ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society. She specialises in emerging technology policy. Kylie Davis, founder and president of The Proptech Association Australia. John Gilmovich, founder and director of Real Property Manager, and President of the Property Owners Association of NSW. He's also a licensed real estate agent. Jordan van den Lamb, housing activist and creator of Shit Rentals. You can find the subreddit here. AKA @purplepingers. A big thanks to our guests for this episode. And a special thanks to Leo Patterson Ross, from the Tenant's Union of NSW for helping with fact checking in this episode. References: The report Sam mentioned: Essential Homes: Why renting is an essential service. ------------ This episode was produced on Burramattagal, Darug, Gundungurra, Wurundjeri, Woi Wurrung, and Cobowra country. ------------ Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.
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  Have AI models truly "gone rogue"? 31.07.2026 29min

  Anthropic's Claude Cowork and an OpenAI model have reportedly "gone rogue", but is that really what happened? And what does it mean to escape a 'sandbox'? Plus, this week, Apple, Meta and a growing list of secretly filmed strangers all had something to say about smart-glasses and their ability to record people without consent. More than half of employers now say they regret cutting jobs for AI. What will this mean for staff morale, and the future of businesses? GUESTS:  Charles Gretton, Director of Attention and Innovation at the Integrated AI Network, and an associate professor at the ANU School of Computing. Jocelyn Brewer, psychologist and founder of Digital Nutrition. ------------ This episode was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Burramattagal, Darug, Gundungurra, and Wurundjeri peoples. ------------ Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.
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  What is Q-Day and how scared should we all be? 24.07.2026 29min

  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 the encryption protecting our bank accounts, private messages and government secrets.  So, are we finally on the verge of the quantum future we've been promised, and are we actually ready for what comes next?  GUESTS: Jacinta Bowler, ABC science reporter and host of the new ABC Science Friction series Dead or Alive. Justin Hendry, Editor at InnovationAus.com. ------------ This episode was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Burramattagal, Darug, Gundungurra, and Wurundjeri peoples. ------------ Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.
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  (Nearly) everything that happened in AI this week 17.07.2026 29min

  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 someone to generate pictures based on individual Instagram accounts. They've since gone back on this decision, but will this idea become a problem? And in case you missed it, we also cover the Prime Minister's announcement of the Office of AI in our headlines section. Fergus mentioned the book Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams. GUESTS: Fergus Halliday, journalist at Whistleout. David Braue, tech journalist at Information Age. ------------ This episode was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Burramattagal, Darug, Gundungurra, and Wurundjeri peoples. ------------ Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.
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  The UN calls for a ban on 'killer robots' 10.07.2026 29min

  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, games reporter at ABC Arts and 102.5 ABC Perth Content Director. The articles Gianni mentioned are here and here. ------------ This episode was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Burramattagal, Darug, Gundungurra, and Wurundjeri peoples. ------------ Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.
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  Will fining social media companies make them uphold the ban? 03.07.2026 28min

  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 are missing out on potential savings. Changes have also been made to the energy requirements of data centres in Australia, but will that actually make a difference to household energy prices? Our final topic this week is the 'tokenpocalypse'. After encouraging everyone to use it as much as possible, all sorts of companies are blowing through their AI token budgets. What does this mean for the viability of AI? GUESTS: Petra Stock, climate and environment reporter for Guardian Australia. You can find Petra's work here. Daniel Van Boom, business journalist at Forbes Australia. You can find Daniel's work here. ------------ This episode was produced on the lands of the Gadigal, Burramattagal, Darug, Gundungurra, and Wurundjeri peoples. ------------ Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.
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  How do you stop being addicted to your phone? 26.06.2026 29min

  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 online voting jeopardise that? And, more Australian artists have identified they have been caught up in AI model training without permission. And they're not happy about it! Cate Blanchett has just launched the Human Consent Registry as one way to combat this. Is there an end in sight? GUESTS: Professor Vanessa Teague, CEO of Thinking Cybersecurity and Adjunct Professor at UNSW. Professor Michael Cowling, Professor of Educational Technology at RMIT aka Professor Tech. ------------ This episode was produced on the lands of the Burramattagal people. ------------ Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.
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  Is it wrong to have robots take care of our parents? 19.06.2026 29min

  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 experiments were a bit off the mark. And, 'tech tourism' is China's latest booming industry. Whether it's a special interest or a general curiosity, all sorts of people are being invited to tour factories that use robots (and some humans) to assemble their products. What are these tours like? And who are they serving? NB: Kath mentioned Lelia Green's work. You can find her book The Digital Child here. GUESTS: Alice Clarke, freelance technology journalist. Her Substack is called Press Any Button. Kath Albury, Professor of Media at Swinburne University of Technology and Chief Investigator at the ARC Centre for Excellence for Automated Decision Making and Society. ------------ This episode was produced on the lands of the Gadigal and Burramattagal people. ------------ Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.
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  Leaked document reveals Microsoft wants you "addicted" to their product 12.06.2026 28min

  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 can this Siri be? And the Mythos tool Anthropic claimed was too powerful to be released to the public... has been released to the public. What could possibly go wrong? GUESTS: Dr Erica Mealy, Discipline Lead for Technology, at the University of the Sunshine Coast Tobias Venus, tech and travel journalist. ------------ This episode was produced on the lands of the Gadigal and Burramattagal people. ------------ Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.
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  Would you pay to use Instagram? 05.06.2026 29min

  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 themselves in public. Why have we seen so many of them out and about, if they're not ready? And, a growing number of people are actively searching for ways to avoid AI-generated search results. How big will this emerging market become? GUESTS: Seamus Byrne, technology researcher and PhD research candidate with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADMS). Josh Taylor, technology reporter for The Guardian. Seamus and Josh mentioned a few tech products during the chat. They are: search engine alternatives StartPage and Kagi; RSS aggregator Feedly; and dice roller Roll Hammer. ------------ This episode was produced on the lands of the Gadigal and Burramattagal people. ------------ Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.
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  Can the Pope influence the future of AI? 29.05.2026 29min

  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 of blue links with chatbot-style summaries. Critics argue it risks killing source literacy and turning the internet into a machine-generated feedback loop. And if smart glasses weren't enough, smart contact lenses may be next. We look at the push toward invisible wearable tech — and the privacy concerns already following close behind. GUESTS: Tegan Jones, Deputy Editor at SmartCompany and Co-host of Weird Tech Gianfranco Di Giovanni, ABC Radio Perth content director and an arts, gaming and tech reporter. ------------ This episode was produced on the lands of the Gadigal and Burramattagal people. ------------ Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.
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  Is your podcast host... human? 22.05.2026 29min

  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 imperfect technology and whether families actually engage with the tools. Plus, the fallout after the legal showdown between Elon Musk and OpenAI's Sam Altman. Now that the jury has rejected Musk's accusations, what comes next? GUESTS: Alex Kidman — Freelance technology journalist Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson — Technology journalist at AAP NB: Jennifer mentioned a book. It's called Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke ------------ This episode was produced on the lands of the Gadigal and Burramattagal people. ------------ Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.
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  Are we nostalgic for a 90s that didn't exist? 15.05.2026 29min

  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 writing, and is a 'human in the loop' still enough to keep it all in check? Finally, Polymarket. It's been blacklisted by Australian regulators, but companies in the United States are treating it like serious financial infrastructure. GUESTS: Mark Serrels – Editorial Director at Choice and co-founder of Continue Magazine. Phoebe Toups Dugas – Associate Professor of Human-Centred Computing in the Exertion Games Lab at Monash University, AKA Trans Gamer Professor. NB: Phoebe mentioned a book. It's called Disabling Intelligences: Legacies of Eugenics and How We Are Wrong About AI. ------------ This episode was produced on the lands of the Burramattagal people. ------------ Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. 
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  Can we force data centres to clean up their act? 08.05.2026 29min

  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 force some of the world's most powerful companies to clean up their act? And hard drive shortages driven by AI is making archiving the internet more expensive. If you want to learn more about whether Australia has the energy and water to power the Australian AI data centre boom, we covered it on an earlier Download This Show episode. GUESTS: Meg Coffey – founder of State of Social. Leigh Stark – the editor of Pickr.com.au. ------------ This episode was produced on the lands of the Burramattagal people. ------------ Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. 
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  Why Elon Musk is taking OpenAI to court 01.05.2026 29min

  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 game? GUEST:  Alice Clarke – freelance tech and games journalist, co-author of Press Any Button on Substack. David Braue – technology journalist at Information Age.  ------------ This episode was produced on the lands of the Burramattagal people. ------------ Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.