Burning Platforms: Can Democracy Survive AI?
Schedule
Wed, 08 Oct, 2025 at 08:00 am
UTC+10:30Location
Allan Scott Auditorium, 55 North Terrace, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia, South Australia 5000 | Adelaide, SA
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Presented by The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre and Per Capita's Centre of the Public Square Burning Platforms PodcastAI is transforming our world at rapid speed, raising urgent questions about who benefits, who loses, and how we keep control of the future.
Panellists from the Burning Platforms podcast, explore the promises and pitfalls of AI - and what’s at stake for all Australians.
Panellists include:
• Lizzie O’Shea: Human Rights Lawyer & Chairperson, Digital Rights Watch
• Peter Lewis: Executive Director, Essential Media & Fellow, Per Capita
• Dan Stinton: CEO and Managing Director, Healthengine
• The Hon Jay Weatherill AO, Executive Director of Democracy, McKinnon
• Holly Rankin (aka Jack River), Recording Artist and Co-Founder, Sentiment
While the boosters of AI are rushing to transform the world, citizens are being left in the slipstream, with little chance to influence how this new technology takes shape.
AI systems are built by harvesting the ideas and creations of others, often without consent, and are already eroding jobs and reshaping culture on the promise of future productivity with little input from those whose livelihoods are on the line.
As the Luddites taught us, the way we adopt technology will be critical to whether it improves people’s lives or cuts a swathe through jobs for the benefit of the few.
Many Australians perceive more risk than upside in this new technology, so why is it being pushed so hard, with so few guardrails or controls in place?
Burning Platforms, is a fortnightly podcast presented by Per Capita's Centre of the Public Square, which decodes the power of politics and Big Tech.
Register to attend in person or watch the live-stream online.
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Where is it happening?
Allan Scott Auditorium, 55 North Terrace, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia, South Australia 5000Event Location & Nearby Stays:
