Burning Platforms

Trust Mark with Alan Finkel

The former Chief Scientist outlines his new venture, ‘Proudly Human to allow creators to verify their work in the ocean of slop.
 
Regular panellists Digital Rights Watch chair Lizzie O’Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis also discuss:
The Australian Government’s defence deals with Palantir
Canadian PM Mark Carney’s call for a Middle Powers LLM
and whether agentic AI will eat the internet
 
Visit www.percapita.org.au for more on our research and events.
Per Capita's podcasts are recorded and produced on Wurundjeri land.

World on Fire

The Burning Platforms panel kick around the carcass of this week when the White House went to war with AI, bosses found new ways to snoop on workers, and the market was moved by a bit of fan fiction.
Per Capita’s Peter Lewis joins Digital Rights Watch chair Lizzie O’Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and The Sizzle’s Cam Wilson try to make sense of the madness.
And some reading to get you warmed up:
Casey Newton - What is OpenAI going to do when the truth comes out?HTI - ‘Surveillance Creep’ Citrini - The 2028 Global Intelligence Crisis Dan Kagan-Kans - The Left is missing Out on AI Brian Merchant - ‘Actually the Left is Winning the AI Debate'

Orgy of Opportunity with Prof Nicholas Davis

On this week's episode of Burning Platforms, the team look at the AI Impact Summit in Delhi with first-hand accounts from UTS’s Human Technology Institute co-director and regular panelist Digital Rights Chair Lizzie O’Shea.
They join Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis to also discuss:
Mark Zuckerberg’s day in court
World-leading workplace laws in NSW
and the SASSopcolypse.
Join us in discussing the issues raised in this episode join us in the Democracy Sandpit: https://civility.bettermode.io/welcome
Visit www.percapita.org.au for more on of the Centre of the Public Square's research and events.
Per Capita's podcasts are produced on Wurundjeri land.
 
 

Plumbing with Sir Geoff Mulgan

Governments may campaign in poetry and govern in prose, but what about the engineering that keeps our democracy flowing? The pioneer of public innovation and Professor of Collective Intelligence at University College London, Sir Geoff Mulgan, believes it’s time to get the boring bits right.
 
Regular panellists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O’Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis also discuss:
Anthropic CEO Dario Ameida’s summer essay - https://darioamodei.com/essay/the-adolescence-of-technology
Should universities accept Big Tech dollars - https://www.science.org/content/article/nearly-third-social-media-research-has-undisclosed-ties-industry-preprint-claims
and South Korea’s new AI Basic Act - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/29/south-korea-world-first-ai-regulation-laws.
 
If you want to hear more from Sir Geoff he will be speaking in Sydney on Feburary 25 https://anzsog.edu.au/events-connection/events/what-next-for-public-innovation-with-geoff-mulgan
 
Visit www.percapita.org.au for more on our research and events.
Per Capita's podcasts are recorded and produced on Wurundjeri land.
 
 

Long Game with Greg Sadler

Burning Platforms is BACK for 2026. The panels returns this week to unpack the existential risks AI presents with the Good Ancestors CEO, Greg Sadler. Spoiler: it's not just AGI.
 
With our regular panellists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O’Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis, the panel also discuss:
Grok’s wild (and gross) summer
ChatGTP’s foray into health
and Bandcamp’s AI pledge
 
Check our Good Ancestors: https://www.goodancestors.org.au/
 
Join us in discussing the issues raised in this episode join us in the Democracy Sandpit: https://civility.bettermode.io/welcome 
Help the Centre of the Public Square fund its research into AI and responsible technology - donate to Per Capita today: https://percapita.org.au/donate/ 
 
 
 

End of Days - 2025 in Review

As 2025 crashes out we survey the highs and lows of the year in tech with long-time platform burner Human Technology Institute co-director Ed Santow.
Regular panellists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O’Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis discuss:
the Government’s AI Plan
the Social Media Ban
and what to read over summer
Join us in discussing the issues raised in this episode join us in the Democracy Sandpit: https://civility.bettermode.io/welcome 
Help the Centre of the Public Square fund its research into AI and responsible technology - donate to Per Capita today: https://percapita.org.au/donate/ 

Ground Game with Cory Alpert

While the vested interests wrestle with the intricacies of AI regulation, are community library conversations the best bet for shaping our tech future? On this week's episode of Burning Platforms, we meet the academic who is fighting the algorithm with words.
 
Regular panellists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O’Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis will also discuss:
Meta’s latest Anti-Trust win
The News Media Bargaining Incentive
The case for an "AI Slop" Tax
 
Book a ticket for Cory’s late night show: https://events.humanitix.com/system-error-late-night-show
 
Read Lizzie’s Baffler piece: https://thebaffler.com/latest/antitrust-issues-oshea
 
Join us in discussing the issues raised in this episode join us in the Democracy Sandpit: https://civility.bettermode.io/welcome

Carbon Footprints with Ketan Joshi

How much energy will AI really burn? Climate writer and activist Ketan Joshi joins Burning Platforms to chat AI and Climate: what we know, what we don’t know and what data centres have to do with yogurt tubs.
 
Regular panellists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O’Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis also discuss:
Meta’s sloppy business model
Apple’s arranged AI marriage with Google
The Federal Government’s AI mission
 
To find out more about Ketan’s work, go to: https://ketanjoshi.co/blog/
 
To discuss the issues raised in this episode join us in the Democracy Sandpit - https://civility.bettermode.io/welcome

RadicalXChange with Jess Scully

Is Big Tech’s domination of AI inevitable or are there different ways of organising our data to shift the power the dynamic? We discuss the RadicalXChange project with its new director, Jess Scully.
 
Regular panellists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O’Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis also discuss:
Government blocks text and data mining
Human Rights over our brain waves
Sam Altman’s wank-bot
To find out more about RadicalxChange go to: https://www.radicalxchange.org/
 
To discuss the issues raised in this episode join us in the Democracy Sandpit - https://civility.bettermode.io/welcome
 
Visit www.percapita.org.au for more on our research and events.Per Capita's podcasts are recorded and produced on Wurundjeri land.

How Can Democracy Survive AI? LIVE IN PERTH

AI 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 and guests, 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
 Rikki Hendon: Secretary of Unions WA
 Kate Chaney MP: Federal Member for Curtin
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.
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?
This event is hosted by Digital Rights Watch with support from The Minderoo Foundation.