The BIG IDEAS Book Club

AI – friend or faux?

In the wake of social media’s role in fuelling division and misinformation, we now face a new frontier—one that blurs the boundaries between reality and illusion. Are we hurtling into the future of artificial intelligence before we have even recovered from the digital chaos caused by social media?

Join Dr Karl and a panel of leading experts as they delve into the urgent questions surrounding AI’s rapid rise where:

• Large language models are prone to hallucination, confidently generating fiction disguised as fact.
• Deepfakes distort visual reality.
• AI’s unnervingly fluent speech creates the illusion of connection, while quietly reshaping how we relate to others, and to truth itself.

As machines grow more human in tone, we’re turning to it not just for information, but for guidance, companionship, even comfort. But could this growing dependence be making us lonelier, more deluded and dangerously misinformed? Are we becoming more connected or more isolated? Could our increasing reliance on intelligent machines be quietly altering how we think, feel, and relate to one another?

This thought-provoking discussion will explore how these technologies are reshaping not only our world, but our relationships, our trust in truth, and even our sense of self.

Don’t miss this timely conversation on the promises and perils of AI. It’s a chance to question, reflect, and imagine what’s next.

SPEAKERS
Dr Anna Broinowski is a Walkley Award–winning filmmaker, nonfiction author and Sydney University GenAI screen researcher who specialises in using innovative technologies and narrative modes to interrogate countercultural subjects.

Dr Micah B. Goldwater is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Sydney. He completed his PhD in Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin in 2009, and then held a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Northwestern University until joining the University of Sydney in 2013. He takes an interdisciplinary cognitive science approach to researching how to help people think better.

Dr Karl Kruszelnicki just loves science to pieces and has been spreading the word in print, on TV and radio, and online for more than thirty years. The author of 48 books (and counting), Dr Karl is a lifelong student with degrees in physics and mathematics, biomedical engineering, and medicine and surgery. Since 1995, he has been the Julius Sumner Miller Fellow at the University of Sydney. In 2019, he was awarded the UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the Popularisation of Science.

Dr Jonathan K. Kummerfeld is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Computer Science at the University of Sydney. He works on making artificial intelligence (AI) systems like ChatGPT more useful by improving their core technology and developing new ways for people to use them, including addressing the problem of ‘hallucinations’ in AI-generated computer code.

MODERATOR
Rae Johnston is a multi-award-winning STEM journalist and broadcaster, and the host of ABC Radio National’s Download This Show, ABC Radio Sydney’s Sunday Mornings (broadcasting state-wide), and iHeartRadio’s Weird Tech podcast. She also travels the country as a TV host on NITV’s Going Places with Ernie Dingo, ABC’s Back Roads and SBS’s The Secret DNA of Us.
Rae currently serves on the boards of both the Telstra Foundation and Swinburne University of Technology.
Co-presented with the University of Sydney

From loyal dogs and graceful cats to exotic birds and backyard chickens, our animal companions enrich our lives in countless ways—offering emotional support, increasing physical activity, fostering empathy, adding structure to our days, and even helping us forge social connections. With nearly 70 per cent of households owning a pet, Australia has one of the highest pet ownership rates in the world. In fact, there are more pets (29 million) than people (27 million) in the country, a testament to the profound and widespread role our animal friends play in our lives.

But as the role of pets continues to expand, so do the questions we must grapple with. Should public and commercial spaces be more accommodating to animals? Are we doing enough to harness the therapeutic and assistive potential of pets in aged care, disability support, and mental health services? And how do we balance the joy of pet companionship with the needs of those who suffer from allergies, phobias, or cultural discomfort around animals? Even more fundamentally, what about the welfare of the animals themselves, whose needs and instincts may clash with the lifestyles we impose on them? This discussion invites us to reflect on how animals fit into our human world—and how we fit into theirs.

Episode: SBS Insight - “It’s Just a Dog” (Episode 17, 2025)

This month we haven’t set a main book to read, though a few relevant titles are listed below. Instead, we’ll explore a collection of readings and videos organised around eight themes about the role of pets in our lives. A recent SBS Insight episode also gives a good sense of the kind of discussion we hope to have.

Themes we may explore include:

Pets as Family Members: The Private Joys of Pet Ownership

• We’ll explore how pets support our emotional, physical, and mental wellbeing—and what they bring to our daily routines and relationships.

Pets and Human Identity: How Our Choice of Pets Reflects or Shapes Who We Are

• We'll explore the fascinating connection between pet choice and personal identity, asking whether our animals reflect who we are or help shape who we become. Does a “dog person” or “cat person” label have any real meaning beyond memes?

The Unspoken Grief: Mourning Our Animal Companions

• We’ll reflect on how we cope with the death of a pet, and whether society sufficiently recognises and supports this kind of loss.

Social Pets: How Animals Strengthen Neighbourhood Bonds

• We’ll look at how pets help foster community by sparking everyday social connections and reducing isolation.

Paws That Heal: Animals in Therapy, Aged Care, and Disability Support

• We’ll consider how animals can play supportive and therapeutic roles in contexts such as aged care, mental health, and disability services.

Pets in the Public Square: Where Should Animals Be Welcome?

• We’ll discuss whether pets should have greater access to public and commercial spaces—including public transport and the workplace—and how to fairly accommodate those who find it difficult to be around animals.

Pet Welfare and Ethics: Are We Truly Serving Their Best Interests?

• We’ll confront challenging questions about whether our love truly serves our pets’ best interests. How do confinement, separation anxiety, and restricted natural behaviours affect their wellbeing? And does domesticated life genuinely benefit them?

Designer Breeds, Marketed Love, and Pet Influencers: The Business of Pets

• We’ll explore how consumer culture, status symbols, and the rise of pet influencers shape the way we see—and acquire—animal companions. As costs rise and housing becomes more restrictive, we’ll ask whether pet ownership is becoming something for which many are being quietly priced or locked out.

So join us for a drink (and optional meal) at 6:30pm Monday, 13th October on the 2nd floor (up two flights of stairs) at the Keg & Brew Hotel, Surrey Hills. The Keg & Brew is close to Central Station and the Light Rail.

We hope to see you there! Sadly, no pets allowed at the Keg & Brew.😞

P.S. If you’ve RSVP’d ‘yes’ but can no longer attend, please adjust your RSVP to help others if there is a waitlist.

P.P.S. Please check your email notification settings—especially 'Event updates from organisers' in your Big Ideas Book Club settings—so you receive any final details or last-minute changes.

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These are some suggested readings and videos for the various themes. But please feel free to do your own research and pass on anything useful in the discussion section.

'There are microchips in vaccines'; '5G spreads COVID-19'; 'the Australian government is hiding a list of powerful predators.' It's easy to dismiss these as fringe concerns or imported concepts, but conspiratorial ideas are gaining traction with everyday Australians, and being wielded by those in power. The tragic event in Porepunkah, Victoria just weeks ago serves as a stark reminder of how dangerous conspiracy theories can become when they move from online forums into real-world violence. Let's gather to discuss why individuals are drawn to conspiracy theories, how these beliefs spread in communities, and what we can do to combat their harmful effects in our society.

Book: Conspiracy Nation—Exposing the Dangerous World of Australian Conspiracy Theories (2025) by Ariel Bogle and Cam Wilson.

Optional Supplementary Book: Conspiracy—Why People Believe in the Irrational (2022) by Michael Shermer.

In our book this month, Ariel Bogle and Cam Wilson, both experienced Australian journalists, trace the journey of conspiratorial thinking from internet forums to mainstream political discourse, examining how local Australian conspiracy movements have emerged alongside imported theories from overseas. Through boots-on-the-ground reporting, the authors meet the people dedicated to living and spreading these ideas, those who have been left reeling by their impact, and those who are fighting back.

From Port Arthur and QAnon, the rise of 'wellness' influencers and 'sovereign citizen' gurus, to the delusions that inspired the Wieambilla murders in Queensland, Bogle and Wilson show the devastating consequences of unchecked lies and radicalisation, and make a compelling case that by ignoring the looming threat of conspiratorial thinking, we put our community at risk.

For those interested in delving deeper into the psychological and sociological mechanisms behind conspiracy theories, I would also suggest looking at Conspiracy: Why People Believe in the Irrational (2022) by Michael Shermer. While this book takes an American-centric approach, Shermer provides valuable insights into the cognitive biases, pattern-seeking behaviours, and social psychology that make people susceptible to conspiratorial thinking. Drawing on decades of research in skeptical inquiry, he examines why otherwise rational people can fall prey to irrational beliefs. Furthermore, given that sometimes conspiracy theories do turn out to be real, he also proposes ways to determine their truth value and offers strategies for critical thinking that will complement our main book well.

As usual, you're strongly encouraged to read the book. Having read it will give you much more to contribute to our discussion. Links to additional resources including podcasts and interviews with the authors are also available below that you may wish to explore.

So, join us for a drink (and optional meal) at 6.30pm Monday, 10th November on the 2nd floor (i.e. up two flights of stairs) at the Keg & Brew Hotel, Surrey Hills. The Keg & Brew is close to Central Station and the Light Rail.

We hope to see you there!

P.S. Please adjust your RSVP if you have indicated that you will come but are no longer able to do so. This is courteous to other people if there is a waitlist.

P.P.S. Please adjust your email notification settings (particularly the 'Event updates from organizers' in the Big Ideas Book Club settings). This is useful for receiving any final details or late changes to the event.

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These are just optional links to consider. Feel free to pass on other useful links in the discussion section.

Audio-Visual

• Bogle and Wilson interviews and podcasts with the authors: