A great panel yesterday at the Aus Gov Data Summit. Here were my key messages. Why do we call AI a black box when we can inspect every parameter, activation, and optimisation step? The challenge sits with understanding. Even with full visibility, we still cannot explain why the system behaves the way it does. But…
At the recent GovAI Summit, I spoke on “Engineering Trustworthy AI at Scale: How CSIRO Enables Responsible AI Across Government.” I have given similar talks before, but this one was a bit different. I focused more directly on a question that is often misunderstood: What do we actually mean by scalable AI? Most discussions interpret…
Good panel discussion the Deloitte Connect event yesterday: “Why Australia? Conditions that cement us as a regional leader and exporter of AI.” Thanks to Joana Valente for moderating, and to fellow panellists Paul Grimes Belinda Dennett , and Rianne Van Veldhuizen for a thoughtful conversation. My contribution focused on a few questions/dimensions that may help…
Day three, the research symposium day, was the reason I came. You do not often get to hear and interact with Sir Demis Hassabis, Yoshua Bengio, Yann LeCun and alike on the same day. Sir Demis predicted AGI within five to eight years. Whether that timeline holds or not, two themes stood out. First, learning…
Day two was a collision of optimism, scale, and strategic uncertainty. I spent most of it roaming the exhibition hall and joining panels. Reportedly, the summit is attracting close to 300,000 people. Large global firms, small startups, sovereign AI showcases. It genuinely feels as if the entire AI industry has descended on India. What did…
Day one has been “slightly” chaotic, in the best possible way. I’ve never seen this many people at a conference. Industry, startups, government, students, press. Rooms were packed, with people standing along the walls and spilling into corridors. The surprise visit by Prime Minister Modi to the exhibition hall added another layer of disruption and…
Most creators say they want protection from AI, yet a recent UK survey found over 90% would not opt out of AI access to their work. Why? Today’s visibility depends on online discovery and search, and those systems are powered by AI. If you opt out, your work may be safe from AI training, but…
I often share missed or surprising observations in my talks. Here are five of them, summarised as food for thought. 𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵 𝟭: 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀-𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲𝘀.It’s intuitive to think globally trained models can’t reflect our norms. Yet when frontier models answer the same cultural questions posed to national cohorts, they align most…
Cognitive overload, opaque automation, and AI surveillance are reshaping the modern workplace. I’m sharing some insights from my talk at the Safety Sphere, Australia’s leading HSE practitioner network, on “𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝗜 𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗮 𝗖𝗼𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿: 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗦𝗘 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗢𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹-𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗔𝗜.” We examined how AI not only enhances productivity but also creates new health,…
It was a great pleasure to deliver 𝗮 𝗸𝗲𝘆𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟮𝟳𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗖𝗠 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗜 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁. Recent reports such as OpenAI’s GDPVal and METR show that AI systems can now autonomously perform complex doing/solving tasks and often surpass human experts on…
Director/Head of CSIRO’s Data61
Conjoint Professor, CSE UNSW
For other roles, see LinkedIn & Professional activities.
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