The 9pm Kenya with a K and an AI with UNSW Scientia Professor Toby Walsh

UNSW Scientia Professor Toby Walsh in an AI-generated image using the prompt: A slightly sinister-looking Professor Toby Walsh is sitting in a dark and threatening Edwardian science fiction setting, unware of the variety of threatening humanoid and octopus-like robots gathered close behind him (Original photo: UNSW, processing: Midjourney)

It’s all about artificial intelligence as the spring series continues with one of the leaders in the field, Scientia Professor Toby Walsh, chief scientist at the UNSW AI Institute.

[Note, added much later: This post contains some AI-generated images. Finding out what new technology is capable of is kinda part of my job. At the time this was posted a lot of people were experimenting, snd I did a little myself. But it soon became clear that many aspects of generative AI are ethically unsustainable, along with other problems, and I certainly wouldn’t use such an image now. I’ve left it here, though, because it does illustrate the start of the technology at the time of posting.]

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The 9pm Ageing, Death, and Bestiality

A Victorian-era angel stands guard over a gravesite at Rookwood Necropolis, Sydney. Yes, on 5 October 2023 the sky really was that blue. (Photo: Stilgherrian)

Stilgherrian returns after a three-month break to kick off a six-episode spring series of The 9pm Edict podcast. In this solo episode he’s somewhat reflective, but hey he thinks you’ll still like it.

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