AI companions: Friend or Foe

Talks on Tuesdays is a live event series bringing big ideas, real experts, and curious minds together - at your favourite local venues. Think thought-provoking lectures, audience questions, and post-talk mingling over drinks and dinner.

This isn’t a uni lecture. It’s a social, intelligent night out.Come alone or with friends, leave with something to talk about.

Event Schedule:

6.30pm Arrival & Doors Open

7pm Lecuture Starts

7.45pm Q&A

8pm Talk Concludes

8.30pm Event Closes.

*Please arrive close to 6.30pm

A La Carte menu and full bar available throughout the night - pay as you go.

Your Topic:

AI companions – friend or foe?

AI companion apps (like Replika) are big business, set to make $47 billion (AUD) globally by 2032. Some are marketed as tutors or travel advisors, while others are sold as friends, for emotional support – or even romance. But the risks are high. Do they outweigh the rewards? Join us for an engaging discussion with Prof Lisa Given, as she examines if an AI companion can really be your new best friend.

Your Speaker:

Professor Lisa M. Given wears many hats at RMIT University. A Professor of Information Sciences, she is also Director of the Centre for Human-AI Information Environments and Director of the Social Change Enabling Impact Platform. She studies how people use social media platforms, smartphone apps, and artificial intelligence tools in everyday life, as well as hospitals, business settings, schools, and wine cellars. She is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, lead author of Looking for Information: Examining Research on How People Engage with Information (2023), and a regular media commentator who has featured in ABC News, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. You can follow her on BlueSky @lisagiven and LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/lisagiven

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