By Kathy Reid, PhD Candidate, School of Cybernetics, Australian National University
Amazon has disabled two key privacy features in its Alexa smart speakers, in a push to introduce artificial intelligence-powered “agentic capabilities” and turn a profit from the popular devices.
Starting today (March 28), Alexa devices will send all audio recordings to the cloud for processing, and choosing not to save these recordings will disable personalisation features.
How do voice assistants work?
A voice assistant…
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By Dylan Gaffney, Associate Professor of Palaeolithic Archaeology, University of Oxford
Marlin Tolla, Researcher in Archaeology, Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional (BRIN)
Archaeologists show some of the first people to settle the ancient continent of Sahul arrived on the shores of present-day West Papua, some 50,000 years ago.
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By Hamish McCallum, Emeritus Professor, infectious disease ecology, Griffith University
Alison Peel, Sydney Horizon Fellow, veterinarian and wildlife disease ecologist, University of Sydney
Cinthia Pietromonaco, PhD Candidate, School of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney
Infection with Australian bat lyssavirus is serious but extraordinarily rare, and there are effective treatments. So there’s no need to panic.
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Police fire tear gas shells to disperse students protesting against ethnic violence in Imphal, in India's northeastern state of Manipur, September 10, 2024. © 2024 Paojel Chaoba/AP Photo India’s northeastern state of Manipur is facing risks of renewed ethnic violence despite the resignation of its divisive chief minister and the imposition of president’s rule on February 13, 2025.India’s Supreme Court expressed concerns over what it termed the “absolute breakdown of law and order” in Manipur after the May 2023 breakout of ethnic violence between the predominant…
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By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne
With a five-week campaign ahead, the polls have swing back in favour of Labor - but it’s still very close.
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By Chris Wallace, Professor, School of Politics Economics & Society, Faculty of Business Government & Law, University of Canberra
Anthony Albanese must use his talented front bench to convince voters that inside his government there’s a better one waiting to break out.
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By Mark Kenny, Professor, Australian Studies Institute, Australian National University
The combative opposition leader has continued to focus on prising suburbanites away from Labor with a relentless campaign emphasising the rising cost-of-living.
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By Joshua Black, Visitor, School of History, Australian National University
The surge of successful independent MPs at the 2022 election shows no sign of changing – and in fact may grow more powerful still.
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By Pandanus Petter, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Politics and International Relations, Australian National University
Now that an election has been called, Australian voters will go to the polls on May 3 to decide the fate of the first-term, centre-left Australian Labor Party government led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
In Australia, national elections are held every three years. The official campaign period only lasts for around a month.
This time around, Albanese will be seeking to hold onto power after breaking Labor’s nine-year dry spell by beating the more right-leaning Liberal Party, led by Scott Morrison, in 2022.
Now, he’s up against the Liberals’ new leader,…
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By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
With the next parliament, like this one, expected to have a large crossbench, present polling is pointing towards a minority government as a likely outcome.
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