Podcast
Download This Show
Hosted by ABC Australia · EN
Download This Show is your weekly guide to the world of media, culture, and technology. From social media to gadgets, streaming services to privacy issues. Each week Rae Johnston and guests take a fun, deep dive into how technology is reshaping our lives.
38episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
What is Q-Day and how scared should we all be?
6d ago00:30:06Tap to summarizeQuantum 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 downloadthisshow@abc.net.auFind all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →(Nearly) everything that happened in AI this week
2w ago00:30:03Tap to summarizeAnthropic 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 downloadthisshow@abc.net.auFind all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →The UN calls for a ban on 'killer robots'
3w ago00:30:06Tap to summarizeMicrosoft 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 downloadthisshow@abc.net.auFind all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →
Will fining social media companies make them uphold the ban?
4w ago00:29:19Tap to summarizeThe 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 downloadthisshow@abc.net.auFind all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →How do you stop being addicted to your phone?
Jun 2600:30:03Tap to summarizeIf 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 downloadthisshow@abc.net.auFind all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Is it wrong to have robots take care of our parents?
Jun 1900:30:05Tap to summarizeTech 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 downloadthisshow@abc.net.auFind all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Leaked document reveals Microsoft wants you "addicted" to their product
Jun 1200:29:19Tap to summarizeWhile 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 CoastTobias 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 downloadthisshow@abc.net.auFind all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Would you pay to use Instagram?
Jun 500:30:04Tap to summarizeMeta 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 downloadthisshow@abc.net.auFind all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Can the Pope influence the future of AI?
May 2900:30:06Tap to summarizeThe 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 TechGianfranco 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 downloadthisshow@abc.net.auFind all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Is your podcast host... human?
May 2200:30:06Tap to summarizeAmazon'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 journalistJennifer Dudley-Nicholson — Technology journalist at AAPNB: 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 downloadthisshow@abc.net.auFind all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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