Art, culture and creativity were long held as the last bastion of human ingenuity irreplaceable by AI and robotics. But now, with conversational AI like ChatGPT seemingly capable of writing and reasoning, AI developing ‘art’ through OpenArt and Stable Diffusion, and technology companies investing in the AI ‘arms race’, have we finally reached the point that science fiction has long warned us about, when humans and human ingenuity can be surpassed by machines?

In fact, aren’t we willingly racing towards this eventuality? Daily, we allow our lives, moods, meals, entertainment, travel, transactions, and our relationships to be hacked, optimised and monitored through the filter of digital automation.

Does advanced technology have to mean human displacement? Does progress have to mean automation?

More importantly, how will the adoption of this technology impact the most vulnerable in our society – minority groups who are often disproportionately affected by automation, disruption and wholesale technological advancements.

This session will be part of the 'Burning Platforms' podcast, a fortnightly, national podcast which dissects the power and politics of technology.