About this episode

The episode explores the ethical implications of using robots for caregiving and the effects of screen time on children, alongside a discussion on tech tourism in China.

Tech is being marketed as the solution to taking care of our aging parents and our young children: AI companions, improved surveillance tools, and wearables. How much are robots truly able to replace genuine human care, and ethically should we let them? Plus, how much do we actually know about the effect of screen time hours on children's brains? Turns out, some of the initial experiments were a bit off the mark. And, 'tech tourism' is China's latest booming industry. Whether it's a special interest or a general curiosity, all sorts of people are being invited to tour factories that use robots (and some humans) to assemble their products. What are these tours like? And who are they serving? NB: Kath mentioned Lelia Green 's work. You can find her book The Digital Child here. GUESTS: Alice Clarke, freelance technology journalist. Her Substack is called Press Any Button . Kath Albury, Professor of Media at Swinburne University of Technology and Chief Investigator at the ARC Centre for Excellence for Automated Decision Making and Society . ------------ This episode was produced on the lands of the Gadigal and Burramattagal people. ------------ Get in touch: We'd love to hear from…

People in this episode

Guests: Alice Clarke, Kath Albury

Topics covered

• robot care
• AI companions
• screen time effects
• tech tourism
• aging parents
• children's brains

Keywords

• robot care
• AI
• screen time
• tech tourism
• aging parents
• children
• surveillance tools
• wearables

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Swinburne University of Technology, ARC Centre for Excellence for Automated Decision Making and Society

Books & works: The Digital Child

Places: Gadigal, Burramattagal

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