Casey Tonkin

Sydney

Journalist at Information Age (ACS)

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Articles

Govt’s AI regulation proposal is flawed and incomplete

Oct 16, 2024 | ia.acs.org.au | Casey Tonkin

In early September, the federal government shared its proposal for regulating artificial intelligence and began its latest consultation process. What the proposals paper reveals is that the government is still undecided on core, non-trivial components of how to resolve the complex issue of AI regulation and thus we are a long way off companies getting regulatory certainty.
SA schools IT project runs $47m over budget

Mar 20, 2024 | ia.acs.org.au | Casey Tonkin

The South Australian Department of Education has botched its rollout of a new education management system (EMS) which is forecast to go $47 million over the original budget and be delivered three years late. On Wednesday, the state’s Auditor-General’s Department released a scathing report into the IT project, pointing out “a range of issues” – including the COVID-19 pandemic – that contributed to the delays and overspending.
$63m withdrawn after Ethiopian bank glitch

Mar 20, 2024 | ia.acs.org.au | Casey Tonkin

When news of an IT glitch at one of biggest banks in Ethiopia spread across the country’s universities last weekend, people couldn’t believe their luck. In the early hours of the morning, tens of thousands of students flocked to campus ATMs and logged into their apps to make the most of a software failure that allowed them to withdraw more money than they had in their accounts.
Big tech rallies around AI labelling standard

Feb 9, 2024 | ia.acs.org.au | Casey Tonkin

The biggest names in artificial intelligence (AI) have rallied around an Adobe and Microsoft-led initiative to standardise content metadata tagging in the hopes of making it easier to spot AI-generated content online. Google, Meta, and OpenAI each announced efforts in the past week that further entrench the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) as the leading standards body for attaching invisible data to digital media.
Robodebt: Public servants breached code of conduct

Feb 9, 2024 | ia.acs.org.au | Casey Tonkin

The Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) has confirmed that four public servants involved in the Robodebt Scheme breached the APS Code of Conduct and could be dismissed following an independent investigation. A Royal Commission into the Robodebt scheme handed down its final report in July last year, calling the ill-conceived automatic debt recovery process a “crude and cruel mechanism” that was “neither fair nor legal”.
Is Arc Search the future of web browsing?

Feb 7, 2024 | ia.acs.org.au | Casey Tonkin

Arc Search is a browser that wants you to focus on the experience of surfing the web because it knows the more you pay attention, the more you realise just how poor that everyday experience really is. Unfortunately, it also makes you see how this new AI-powered browser doesn’t quite hit the mark. Arc Search is made by the aptly named Browser Company, a US-based firm trying to redesign web browsing for the 2020s.
Meta to label AI-generated content

Feb 7, 2024 | ia.acs.org.au | Casey Tonkin

Social media giant Meta said it will begin labelling AI-generated images from other companies across its platforms in a bid to stop the flood of AI content. In a blog post this week, Meta’s president of global affairs Nick Clegg outlined the company’s plans to integrate AI-related metadata standards into Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
The Apple Vision Pro is ugly

Feb 5, 2024 | ia.acs.org.au | Casey Tonkin

By all accounts, Apple’s latest product, the Vision Pro, is a technological marvel and a glimpse into the future of computing. It’s also really ugly. Not even the professional photographers of fashion and pop culture magazine could make Apple CEO Tim Cook look cool wearing a Vision Pro. Augmented, virtual, and mixed reality (AR/VR/MR) headsets have always had this problem. At worst, they’re bulky and cover your face like high-tech ski goggles.
Neuralink puts first chip in human brain

Jan 31, 2024 | ia.acs.org.au | Casey Tonkin

Neuralink has successfully implanted its N1 chip into the brain of a human patient, according to owner Elon Musk, marking a milestone for the company that has faced significant criticism in recent years for abusing animal test subjects. Neuralink is developing brain-computer interface (BCI) technology that would let people with severe paralysis use computers with their thoughts.
2,700 Triple Zero calls failed during Optus outage

Jan 24, 2024 | ia.acs.org.au | Casey Tonkin

Optus has admitted that nearly 2,700 Triple Zero calls failed during the company’s disastrous outage in November that left millions of people without coverage and halted connectivity to businesses, train networks, and hospitals. The outage, and Optus’s lacklustre public response, led to a parliamentary hearing during which then-CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin – she resigned shortly after – said only 228 calls to Triple Zero failed while the network was down.