Financial Analysis

Join us for an engaging evening at the next Melbourne Databricks User Group Meetup! We have a great line up of speakers for the night who will be sharing their learnings from implementing Lakebase on Databricks as well as a talk on Transforming Water Utility Operations with AI. **Speakers;** * **Shreya Sharma**, Solution Architect at Databricks: *A tour of Databricks' serverless Postgres for operational apps and AI agents and the headline features (branching, autoscaling, scale-to-zero, horizontal reads). Then a rundown of what's shipped in the last few months — Lakehouse Sync (Postgres → Delta CDC), scale-to-zero as the default, customer-managed encryption keys, and OTLP metrics/logs.* * **Derek Huang,** Solution Architect at Databricks: *Transforming Water Utility Operations with AI: from Reactive Monitoring to Real-Time Intelligence* Why Attend? The Databricks User Group is your chance to: * **Learn from experts**: Hear about the latest Databricks developments and best practices directly from industry leaders and experienced practitioners. * **Network with peers**: Connect with other data professionals in Melbourne who are passionate about data, AI, and analytics. * **Share knowledge**: Engage in discussions, ask questions, and exchange ideas with other members of the community. Event Details: * **Venue Host**: Vivanti Consulting, Level 20, Tower Five, 727 Collins Street, Docklands, VIC 3008 * **Date:** Thursday 11th June, 2026 * **Timing**: 5:30pm-8pm * **Catering and Drinks provided** RSVP today to secure your spot and feel free to invite colleagues or friends interested in Databricks and data-driven innovation. We look forward to seeing you there!

Welcome to WWDC Week! As is tradition, Apple has scheduled WWDC to coincide with our June monthly presentation night, so join us this Thursday for the post-WWDC discussions. Thanks to Mantel Group for hosting us again this month. If you're coming in person we're there with food and drinks from 6pm. We will be live streaming the presentations as usual from 6:30pm at [http://www.melbournecocoaheads.com/live](http://www.melbournecocoaheads.com/live) \-\-\- **Agenda** \| 6:00pm \| Food \+ Networking \| \| 6:30pm \| Event begins\. Introductions \| \| 6:40pm \| Marcelo Esperidiao — WWDC Recap \| \| 6:50pm \| Luke Tupper – Supercharging multi platform development \| \| 7:20pm \| Panel discussion on the announcements at WWDC \| \| 7:55pm \| Wrap up \+ social time at a nearby venue \| \* All times are approximate. Presentation order will be confirmed on the night. \-\-\-\- We are always looking for speakers and believe everyone has an interesting talk hiding inside themselves. If you are interested in letting that talk out at a future event you can get in touch on the website [https://www.melbournecocoaheads.com/talks](https://www.melbournecocoaheads.com/talks) or on Slack.

**Why the Question Matters for Alignment, Moral Progress, and Long Term Flourishing** Practically nobody in alignment wants to say it out loud. So let’s say it: *AI might turn out to be* ***[more moral than us](https://www.scifuture.org/more-moral-than-us/)***. Now – why does that feel like a dangerous thing to claim? The question is not whether AI can match human moral reasoning. The question is whether that’s even worth bragging about. The idea of AI being more moral than humans is a real taboo in some circles. Many alignment researchers are uncomfortable with the idea because it seems to smuggle in the assumption that AI could have genuine moral agency, which conflicts with deflationary views of LLMs as “stochastic parrots” – and also because it sounds uncomfortably close to AI-worship or motivated reasoning for deferring to AI. Invoking this idea could get one dismissed as naive or as an actual safety risk oneself. *It’s also epistemically risky.* *More moral* – but in what sense? Knowing more facts relevant to ethics? Drawing better inferences from values? Applying principles wisely in context? Actually being *moved* by moral considerations, rather than just computing them? These aren’t the same thing. Conflating them produces both overclaiming and underclaiming – and most of the bad arguments on both sides of this debate do exactly that.[1](https://www.scifuture.org/why-are-we-afraid-to-ask-whether-ai-could-be-more-moral-than-humans/#6ebcc18c-d890-4a28-8b01-27945a532c66) An AI could plausibly exceed humans on moral knowledge, reasoning and even judgement without having anything like moral motivation. Collapsing these leads to both overclaiming and underclaiming. Clear distinctions between stuff like moral judgement and moral motivation makes the conversation tractable. Is it dangerous for public discourse? There’s a genuine risk that the framing gets weaponised – either by people wanting to justify AI authority over human decisions, or by critics who use it to paint alignment researchers as unhinged techno-utopians. It can also trigger motivated reasoning in both directions. A lot more could be said here. But the taboo is not protecting us from a dangerous question. It’s protecting us from the answer. The taboo itself is epistemically costly, yet if we ***refuse to ask*** whether AI could have better-grounded moral reasoning than humans, we prevent getting to the heart of the issue. ## **The questions worth asking** Before thoroughly assessing whether AI could be more moral than humans, we need to ask whether the question is even coherent. ### Alignment targeting and verification *What should AI align to?* Is morality a cohesive alignment target, or a family of overlapping intuitions that only look unified from a distance? And if there is a *fact of the matter* about moral improvement, *how would we know we were tracking it* – rather than simply laundering our current preferences with extra steps? More pressingly: what would it mean to *verify* that an agent has better moral judgement than us, given that we’re the ones doing the evaluating? This is the bootstrapping problem. We cannot step outside our own moral reasoning to assess a system that exceeds it. That isn’t a reason to stop asking – it’s a reason to ask more carefully.[2](https://www.scifuture.org/why-are-we-afraid-to-ask-whether-ai-could-be-more-moral-than-humans/#114785ab-004c-4882-b8c8-c0437942e9ec) ### The motivational gap Even if the epistemic questions could be resolved, a deeper problem remains: most human moral failure isn’t a failure of *reasoning*. It’s a failure of *motivation*. If humans are themselves imperfectly morally motivated, what does alignment to human preferences actually track? Not moral truth – at best, some weighted average of moral intuitions, distorted by power, attention, and self-interest. How much of human moral failure is motivational rather than epistemic? More than we tend to admit. We frequently know what the right thing is and fail to do it anyway – which means a system that merely reasons better about ethics hasn’t addressed the failure mode that actually matters most. And this raises the hardest question in the cluster: is moral motivation necessarily tied to phenomenal experience – to there being something it is *like* to care? Or could a system be genuinely motivated by moral considerations without felt engagement? Can motivation be grounded without being felt? ### The systemic stakes Finally, there are second-order questions that rarely get asked – about what happens to *us* if AI gets this right. Does sustained deference to AI moral judgement atrophy human moral reasoning capacity? And if so, what are the systemic risks of that atrophy – not just for individuals, but for the collective processes through which moral knowledge has historically developed? (There is recent work on comparative moral Turing Tests that begins to take this seriously[3](https://www.scifuture.org/why-are-we-afraid-to-ask-whether-ai-could-be-more-moral-than-humans/#6efcb4e9-295e-425c-8860-40f415ef4935)) Moral progress for humans has never been a purely individual achievement. It has happened through argument, conflict, revision, and hard-won consensus across generations. A system that resolves moral questions faster than humans can engage with them might not accelerate that process. It might short-circuit it entirely. I think asking these questions Socratically can help nudge the conversation into the open productively rather than letting it fester as an unexamined assumption. Also I think this line of questioning isn’t just intuition pump fodder, I think they are directly important to the project of AI alignment.[4](https://www.scifuture.org/why-are-we-afraid-to-ask-whether-ai-could-be-more-moral-than-humans/#13e5d2e0-79f6-42fc-8d1e-fcae403c2f6b) > Refusing to ask whether AI could exceed human moral reasoning doesn’t make the question safe. It just means we’ll answer it by accident, badly, and too late. Handled carelessly, this question causes damage. Left unasked, it causes more. ## Footnotes 1. The claim is easy to make sloppily. “More moral” conflates several things that need to be separated: a) Moral knowledge (knowing more facts relevant to ethics) b) Moral reasoning (drawing better inferences from values) c) Moral judgement (applying principles wisely in context) d) Moral motivation (actually being moved by moral considerations – which is one of my core focus points of activism) [↩︎](https://www.scifuture.org/why-are-we-afraid-to-ask-whether-ai-could-be-more-moral-than-humans/#6ebcc18c-d890-4a28-8b01-27945a532c66-link) 2\. This was brought up in an interview with Nick Bostrom [↩︎](https://www.scifuture.org/why-are-we-afraid-to-ask-whether-ai-could-be-more-moral-than-humans/#114785ab-004c-4882-b8c8-c0437942e9ec-link) 3\. See Eyal Aharoni’s and Danica Dillion’s work on Moral Turing Tests – presentations and interviews [here](https://www.scifuture.org/eyal-aharoni-breaking-the-moral-turing-test-studies-of-human-attribution-and-deference-to-ai-moral-judgment-and-decision-making/), [here](https://www.scifuture.org/ai-outscored-humans-in-a-blinded-moral-turing-test-should-we-be-worried-dr-eyal-aharoni-explains/) and [here](https://www.scifuture.org/danica-dillion-ais-moral-compass-better-than-expected-now-what/). [↩︎](https://www.scifuture.org/why-are-we-afraid-to-ask-whether-ai-could-be-more-moral-than-humans/#6efcb4e9-295e-425c-8860-40f415ef4935-link) 4\. The grounded values approach actually requires asking questions like: – What should AI align to?, Is morality a cohesive alignment target?, is there a fact of the matter about moral improvement, or is “more moral” just “more aligned with our current intuitions”? – What would it mean to verify that an agent has better moral judgement than us, given that we’re the ones doing the evaluating? (see work one recently on comparative moral Turing Tests) – If humans are themselves imperfectly morally motivated, what does alignment to human preferences actually track? – How much of human moral failure is motivational versus epistemic? – Is moral motivation necessarily tied to phenomenal experience, or could a system be genuinely motivated by moral considerations without anything it’s like to be it? – Can motivation be grounded without being felt? – Does sustained deference to AI moral judgement atrophy human moral reasoning capacity, and what are the systemic risks of that atrophy – both for individuals and for the collective processes through which moral knowledge has historically developed? Also see: **[Why Are We Afraid to Ask Whether AI Could Be More Moral Than Humans?](https://www.scifuture.org/why-are-we-afraid-to-ask-whether-ai-could-be-more-moral-than-humans/)**

Welcome to Melbourne Volleyball Academy. 🤗 **[[WHAT]]** This session is specifically for games only (no training). There will be a cap of 18 players, allowing for 3 teams of 6. Games will be played to 15 points, with a cap at 18 points. These games are intended to be played at a high-intermediate(BB)/advanced(A) level. Please see an explanation of skill levels on our website here: [https://melbournevolleyballacademy.com.au/skill-levels-explained](https://melbournevolleyballacademy.com.au/skill-levels-explained) **[[WHO]]** The session is intended for Intermediate players. Players should be able to: * Have strong fundamentals for all volleyball techniques * Serve receive a majority of serves well & serve over the net consistently * Basic understanding of 5-1, and 6-2 systems (we do not play a pass middle 4-2 system in this session) * Have an understanding of base defense * Know all/most volleyball rules Players that are not of the intermediate(BB)/advanced(A) level will be asked to leave as we want to ensure that all players have an enjoyable time playing. **[[HOW MUCH $$]]** $21 card payment will be processed on the day via square reader (EFTPOS). **[[WHEN]]** The stadium is booked from 6:30 PM-9:30 PM weekly, every Thursday. However, feel free to come early and stretch as the Community Centre is open earlier. Last minute dropouts and no shows will have a zero-tolerance policy going forward. All players are expected to update their RSVP at least 24 hours in advanced if they are unable to attend. This applies to players on the going list and the waitlist. **[[OTHER DETAILS]]** Only those on the “going” list are permitted to play. If you are on the waitlist, or not registered at all, you will not be permitted into the gymnasium.

Hi Gophers! We're at Atlassian this June to talk carbon footprint calculations for Claude and building a custom Kubernetes PaaS in Go. * **Agenda** **5.45pm — Food & Networking** **6:30pm — Intro** **6:45pm — Talks** **8.00pm — Wrap up then head out for kick ons** * **Talks** **🎤 Mia de Búrca** **What I Learnt Writing a Carbon Awareness Skill for Claude** (short talk) Having recently left my senior IC job in tech, I wanted to take some time to pursue green software principles, in **particular** how they apply to our use of AI. Since I'm an engineer, and engineers learn by doing; I decided to build an MCP server using sustainable software practices, and have it serve up a skill that would let an LLM ask what **its** carbon footprint had been for the conversation so far. The talk describes what I built and why, and how the implementation **and** infrastructure were a breeze **compared** to finding some real numbers to back up the carbon equivalence calculation. **🎤 Ryan Djurovich** **How I built Podplane - an Open Source PaaS running Kubernetes on Object Storage** About Podplane: Want to deploy your app easily and securely on AWS, Google Cloud, or Proxmox? Podplane is an Open Source Platform-as-a-Service built on Kubernetes with all state stored in Object Storage. It consists of a CLI, etcd alternative ([netsy.dev](http://netsy.dev)), auth server ([easy-oidc.dev](http://easy-oidc.dev)), and next-gen auto-scaler ([nstance.dev](http://nstance.dev)) - all written in Go. \* **Interested in speaking at an upcoming event?** We will aim to have a mix of short (\~10min) and in-depth (20-30min) talks. If you’re keen to give a talk on a topic, share a project, or idea, please let us know [bit.ly/GolangMelbourneSpeakersForm](https://bit.ly/GolangMelbourneSpeakersForm)

Hey Bayside! ☀️ The Bayside Social is a brand new group for locals who are up for good vibes, new friendships, and getting out to enjoy everything this area has to offer. We've got Friday night drinks, Sunday arvo sessions, outdoor activities, and more on the way. Just a note — this isn't an actual event to attend, but if this sounds like your kind of thing, hit Join and keep an eye out for our upcoming events. We'd love to have you along. See you out there! 👋

This is our monthly meetup where we hang out and chat about investing. There's no fixed format, we just meet with like-minded individuals to discuss investing strategies and stock picks, at a bar or cafe. All levels of experience welcome. Second Friday of the month. Bring laptops/tablets etc if you like because we do research.

This class is designed for ladies who are perhaps new to dance or have not danced for a while and would love to experience the joy of movement again. Our dance steps are simple to follow, and are designed to get you moving, we work on your balance and core strength. Strength training is incorporated into every class. We are here to help you: ✅ Build muscle mass ✅ Strengthen your core ✅ Maintain bone density ✅ Have lots of Fun!!!! Only $12 payable at door, either cash or card.

Let's drink to **Internet Money and the quiet revolution**! Come and meet like-minded people and learn about bitcoin. This night is for newbies and regulars alike (don't worry, we don't bite!). Note that this is a very informal event, so you may need to ask the bar staff to find where the group is. There are no speakers or activities, just a casual pub session. \*NOTE: The Fox Hotel accepts Bitcoin via the lightning network, so come with sats! An easy way to get started is to download a compatible wallet, for example Wallet of Satoshi. This is the regular monthly pub session for the Melbourne Bitcoin community. We recommend new comers check out https://bitcoin.rocks/ and https://bitcoin-intro.com Find out more by visiting our telegram chat channel: https://t.me/btcmelbourne *(yes, telegram is not our favourite solution, but it's stuck so far)*

Hi Radiant Ladies, Join us for a refreshing Saturday walk at Ruffey Lake Park. 👭 Walk at your own pace 🐕 Dogs welcome ☕ Coffee after 🌦️ We walk every Saturday (unless it’s pouring) New ladies welcome. See you! 



Leanne & Lyn 💕

If you are interested in selecting investment choices for your 401(k) or other workplace savings plan, minimizing your income tax liability, or identifying the most effective investments for your brokerage account, we are the group for you. We are a local chapter of Bogleheads, whose investment strategy can be found here: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Bogleheads%C2%AE_investment_philosophy Or you can peruse the Boglehead forum here: https://www.bogleheads.org/index.php I look forward to seeing you there. Mark Vonder Haar

**Welcome to the Women’s Columbus Bogleheads® Sub-Group** This sub-group is for **women who want to learn and discuss finances in a safe, supportive space**. For those interested in moving towards financial independence and retirement by learning investment basics, choosing your 401(k) investments, minimizing taxes, and more. We’re a local chapter of **Bogleheads®**, following a long-term, practical investment philosophy: [Investment Philosophy](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Bogleheads%C2%AE_investment_philosophy): https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Bogleheads%C2%AE_investment_philosophy [Bogleheads Forum](https://www.bogleheads.org/index.php): https://www.bogleheads.org/index.php No question is too small, and no experience is too simple. Share, ask, and learn — at your own pace, without judgment, in a group of like-minded women. Let’s build confidence and knowledge **together**!

Over a billion documents processed. Millions of Veterans impacted. Hundreds of thousands of employee hours saved. Faster decisions. Greater accuracy. More benefits in the hands of our disabled Veterans. We created Smart Search, the world’s largest consumer of Amazon Textract, right when GenAI began reshaping what’s possible. Since then, we’ve built a suite of AI‑driven solutions that transform this data into real, measurable outcomes—accelerating benefits decisions for our Nation’s Veterans. Join us for a focused conversation on how an outcome‑driven approach to AI is helping us boost accuracy, streamline workflows, and deliver faster results for those who have served. This is a follow up to the AWS re:Invent 2023 "Intelligent Document Processing with Gen AI for Public Sector" presentation. About Speaker: Cameron Williams is a Senior Technical Project Manager and cross-functional technical leader at Booz Allen Hamilton with 15+ years of experience architecting and evolving scalable, cloud-native systems, from greenfield development to complex enterprise modernization. https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameronw711/ **THANK YOU** *Franklin University* for hosting our meetup! To learn more about *Franklin University*, please visit their website: https://www.franklin.edu/ **DIRECTIONS** Franklin University Fisher Hall 300 E. Main St, Columbus, OH 43215 Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/jxjBA2hUmS5qrvhq8 Parking is FREE! Please park in Lot C in front of Fisher Hall. See attached map. NOTE: Map the address only. When mapping with Google Maps it may use the Fisher Hall at OSU, which is NOT correct. **Want to sponsor the pizza and/or bar tab?** Please contact me if you would like to sponsor this meetup's pizza and/or bar tab: angelo@mandato.com

**HAPPY HOUSE HUNTERS JOIN THE CENTRAL OHIO INVESTOR NETWORK [COIN}** \* Time: 5 pm‎ - ‎8 pm‎ ‎ [Eastern Time] Every Third Tuesday \* Where: Pastimes Pub at Grandview Yard, 775 Yard St., Columbus 43212 \* Description: Join Us for the Ultimate Real Estate Meet and Greet! Flip, Buy and Hold, Long-Term Rentals, Mid-Term Rentals & Short-Term B&B! Are you passionate about real estate investments or curious about the world of long-term rentals, mid-term rentals, or short-term rentals? Look no further because the "Happy House Hunters" and "The Inns and Outs of a B&B" invite you to come together with COIN for exciting monthly Meet and Greet events for all real estate investors! We look forward to seeing you there!

Please reserve your spot by registering on the below link : **Reserve** https://www.eventbrite.com/e/join-biggest-community-investors-founders-columbus-online-tickets-1988563717610?aff=meetup **QUESTIONS ?** Pls Reach out to; Ridhi - +971504724873 ( WhatsApp Only)

🔥 OVER 50 HAPPY HOUR at PBR EASTON! 🔥 Looking to meet new people, enjoy great music, dance, laugh, and have an unforgettable night out? Then grab your friends and join us for one of the most exciting Over 50 social events in Columbus! 📍 PBR Cowboy Bar + Smokehouse – Easton 📅 Thursday, June 18th ⏰ 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM (and the fun keeps going!) This is NOT your typical quiet happy hour… this is a high-energy, country-meets-nightlife experience designed for fun-loving singles and couples over 50 who still enjoy getting out, socializing, and making memories! ✨ What’s Happening: 🎵 Live Music from 6:30–8:30 PM 🐂 Mechanical Bull Riding starting at 8:30 PM 💃 Line Dancing with Instructor from 9–10 PM 🎧 DJ & Dancing starting at 9 PM 🍹 Drink Specials All Night: $3, $4 & $5 specials! Whether you want to relax with a drink, hit the dance floor, try the mechanical bull, or just meet a great group of people in a fun atmosphere — this event has something for everyone. 👉 IMPORTANT: When you arrive, CHECK IN with the host under: “Doug / Meetup” to receive your wristband. 🚗 FREE Parking available across from the venue and at the Easton West Garage. Come when you can, leave when you want… but don’t be surprised if you stay all night! Let’s make Thursday night FUN again! 🎉