Events
Karen Hao: Empire of AI
UNSW2025 Wallace Wurth Lecture | Australian Exclusive
Programs like ChatGPT have become ubiquitous with AI, promising to kick start the next industrial evolution. But the scale of resources needed to support AI are staggering, with the cost largely being levied on the marginalised. From energy demands eclipsing whole cities, to labour exploitation in the global south, this behaviour bodes poorly for an equitable future.
In Empire of AI, award-winning investigative journalist Karen Hao unpacks the rise of OpenAI and their race for global dominance – prompting the question, what will it take to reign in this laissez-faire approach to growth? Answers are needed and UNSW legal expert Mimi Zou is exploring the possibilities surrounding the regulation of AI, along with UNSW neuroscientist Joel Pearson who is scrutinising the human impact of AI at an individual and societal level.
Join ABC journalist Ange Lavoipierre in conversation with Karen Hao and then Mimi Zou and Joel Pearson on what it will take to usher in a sustainable, equitable AI revolution.
About the Wallace Wurth Lecture
The Wallace Wurth Lecture was first held in 1964 to commemorate the memory of the late Wallace Charles Wurth, the first Chancellor of UNSW Sydney (at the time known as the New South Wales University of Technology) and first President of the Council of the University. The first Wallace Wurth Lecture was delivered by the then Prime Minister of Australia, the Right Honourable Sir Robert Menzies and recent acclaimed speakers include Gail Kelly, Stan Grant and Daniel Dennett.
