Author: The Conversation

Interest in the incorporation of robots into security, policing and military operations has been steadily increasing over the last few years. It’s an avenue already being explored in both North America and Europe. Robot integration into these areas could be seen as analogous to the inclusion of dogs in policing and military roles in the 20th century. Dogs have served as guards, sentries, message carriers and mine detectors, among other roles. Utility robots, designed to play a support role to humans, are mimicking our four-legged companions not only in form, but in function as well. Mounted with surveillance technology and able to ferry equipment,…

On November 4, X owner Elon Musk unveiled his new AI chatbot Grok: a sarcastic ChatGPT alternative supposedly “modelled” after The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, one of Musk’s favourite books. The verb Grok means “to understand intuitively or by empathy, to establish rapport with”. Science-fiction writer Robert Heinlein first coined the term, which is now used by people in the computer science industry. According to xAI, another company in Musk’s diversified technology portfolio, Grok “is designed to answer questions with a bit of wit and has a rebellious streak, so please don’t use it if you hate humour!” Announcing Grok! Grok is an…

In a time of war and populism, the world needs quality information and credible news outlets. Local news is a part of this healthy ecology. But news publishers have struggled to find ways to make money in recent years – especially as referral traffic and ad revenue from social media sites continue to fall. The monopoly power of large platforms, and the control they exert over news distribution, was one reason Australia’s competition authorities introduced the News Media Bargaining Code in 2021. This code has prompted Google and Meta to strike deals with a number of Australian media organisations, addressing the…

In November, the UK government held the first AI (artificial intelligence) Safety Summit in the historically resonant setting of Bletchley Park, home to the legendary second world war codebreakers led by the computing genius Alan Turing. Delegates from 27 governments, heads of the leading AI companies and other interested parties attended the meeting. It was convened to address the challenges and opportunities of this transformative and fast-evolving technology. But what, if anything, did it achieve? Decisions about the development of AI are overwhelmingly in the hands of the private sector, especially the tiny number of big tech companies with access to vast stores…

If you can get your hands on a telescope, there are few sights more spectacular than the magnificent ringed planet – Saturn. Currently, Saturn is clearly visible in the evening sky, at its highest just after sunset. It’s the ideal time to use a telescope or binoculars to get a good view of the Solar System’s sixth planet and its famous rings. But in the past few days, a slew of articles have run like wildfire through social media. Saturn’s rings, those articles claim, are rapidly disappearing – and will be gone by 2025! So what’s the story? Could the next couple of months,…

Astronomers get to ask some of the most fundamental questions there are, ranging from whether we’re alone in the cosmos to what the nature of the mysterious dark energy and dark matter making up most of the universe is. Now a large group of astronomers from all over the world is building the biggest optical telescope ever – the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) — in Chile. Once construction is completed in 2028, it could provide answers that transform our knowledge of the universe. With its 39-metre diameter primary mirror, the ELT will contain the largest, most perfect reflecting surface ever made. Its…

Commercial companies are increasingly becoming involved in transporting astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), as well as other activities in orbit. Some, such as Houston-based Axiom Space, eventually want to build their own space stations in orbit, where commercial astronauts could make extended stays. This could also provide more money and opportunities for science to be carried out in low Earth orbit. But it also raises a host of safety concerns, because it will add to the already troublesome issue of space junk. There are also implications for the environment, because rockets produce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate…

From smart toasters to fitness collars for dogs, we live in a world where everything around us is gradually being connected to the internet and fitted with sensors so that we can interact with them online. Many people worry about the privacy risks of using these devices because they may allow hackers to listen to our conversations at home. But the contracts for using them are so long we don’t understand which other rights we might be signing away. During research for my book, I found that using Alexa’s voice command triggers 246 contracts that we have had to accept in…

For a while, limitations in technology meant that animators and researchers were only capable of creating human-like faces which seemed a little “off”. Films like 2004’s The Polar Express made some viewers uneasy because the characters’ faces looked almost human but not quite, and so they fell into what we call the “uncanny valley”. This is when artificial faces (or robots more generally) look increasingly human and get very close to resembling us while still showing signs of being artificial, they elicit discomfort or even revulsion. Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) technology mean that we have well and truly crossed the…

In September 2021, Rwanda announced that it was planning to launch over 300,000 satellites. Three months later, a Canadian company, having previously launched two dozen CubeSats, said it would launch an additional 100,000. Then, a French company did likewise. And SpaceX, which has already launched around 5,000 satellites, now has plans for over 60,000 more. There are currently only about 8,000 active satellites in orbit. What’s going on? Before a satellite is launched, a nation state must file its proposed satellite system with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to coordinate radiofrequency spectrum on behalf of the satellite operator, which could be a company, university or government agency. These filings…