Thursday, July 25, 2024
Future History of AI
Wednesday, July 24, 2024
Magic of Cybersecurity
The panel has:
Dr Hin Chan, Manager – Australian Certification Authority (ACA), Australian Cyber Security Centre, ASD
Erin Glenn, Director of Product Management, Belkin International, US
Patrick Campbell-Dunn, Securus Consulting Group
Folding LED Screens for Temporary Classrooms
Greetings from Tech in Government 2024 in Canberra. The most interesting product on the exhibition floor is a folding LED screen on wheels being demonstrated by Mark Lazare from Viewsonic. This is designed to fit through an ordinary doorway and then he unfolded. The joins don't show at all when unfolded.
Monday, July 22, 2024
Welcome to the Next War: the AI Triple Black Box and Accountability
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Professor Ashley Deeks |
At a practical level it is not that difficult to test if an AI weapon is at least as reliable as a human operator. This could improve procedures by making explicit the decision making processes. There will be pressure to use advanced automated systems, just as there are for current simple ones, such as mines.
Saturday, July 20, 2024
Commenting on the Great Computer Outage of 2024
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Stop Error on a Screen at Coles Leichardt, 26 July 2024. Photo by Tom Worthington CC-BY |
At this stage the indication was it wasn't a cyber attack, and was not at the network level (my mobile phone still worked). It was the operating system. So I made a general comment to go out from SciMex to the media. At this stage the ABC had a report suggesting it was from the Crowdstrike security software.
My phone then starting ringing. Sky new wanted to interview me, but their Zoom and phone interview facilities were not working (due to the it outage?), and it was not feasible to get to the studio. I talked to ABC Radio Queensland, who said they had one microphone and a CD player working. A little known fact is that if all the fancy automation fails in an ABC studio, one microphone is connected to the transmitter for emergency broadcasts. At the end of the interview I asked them to play "A Walk in the Black Forest" (the only track Radio Goodies had), but the joke went flat.
One 24 hour TV news network wanted me to come to their studio across town because they could not do a Zoom or phone interview (presumably because the equipment for that used Microsoft Windows). I was tempted to suggest they hold the phone up to the camera.
I made the right call to say it was not a cyber attack, & resisted the temptation to criticize Microsoft Windows. Something I found surprising was the range of devices apparently running Microsoft Windows. Why would you use it for an airline or supermarket machine, rather than an operating system designed for real time embedded applications (such as one of the Linux variants)?
See also (updates):
- Can we avoid a repeat of Friday's CrowdStrike crash chaos?, By Allan Lee, Biwa Kwan, Presented by Allan Lee, SBS News, 22 July 2024 11:49 am.
- Hot Takes from the CrowdStrike Global Tech Outage, Professor Johanna Weaver, Director Tech Policy Design Centre, Australian National University
Friday, July 19, 2024
Chatbots for More Rounded Employable Graduates?
Greetings from the weekly ASCILITE MLSIG webinar. One of the members had a positive report on using Cogniti (developed at University of Sydney), to build chatbots to help students. With this, the software simulates a patient in conversation with the student acting as a therapist. The chat-bot then switches to tutor more and provides feedback and advice to the student. It occurred to me the same would be useful for students "soft" skills.
Many STEM students have difficulty with the part of the job where they have to talk to people, especially non-technical clients. This also creates problems when talking to potential employers. It may seem odd to suggest the students talk to a machine to imp[rove personal communication skills. However, this way students can get a lot of practice with an infinitely patient tutor. Also client and work communication is increasingly using digital technology. In a way reality s becoming more like the simulation: you apply for a job not by writing a letter but via a web form, do online tests & get interviewed via Zoom. The graduate will likely communicate with their client, and perhaps colleagues, mostly online. So talking to a chat-bot online will be a more realistic simulation of the workplace, than talking face to face in a classroom.
Wednesday, July 17, 2024
Thinking assessment in the large as an answer to AI
Greetings from the CRADLE Seminar "Assessment beyond the individual unit/module and AI". Associate Professor Jason Lodge is talking about how to see how students progress over time, rather than assessing in small packets of instruction. While he did not explicitly say it, I assume he envisions this makes it harder for the student to cheat, using AI, or otherwise, as they would not be showing consistent progress.
Mentioned by someone was "Assessment reform for the age of artificial intelligence" (TEQSA, 2023).
Margaret Bearman took us through the logic of current unit based assessment and asks about "big picture" outcomes. My reaction was "Inst that what capstones are for?". You have the student do a big project at the end of their study, where they have to demonstrate the skills needed.
Surprisingly, there was little mention of AI, which is refreshing. The approach is to get the assessment right and cheating will be harder, however it is done.
I asked the panel:
'Will technology help? Could we give the AI each student's CV and have it suggest what degree requirements they have already met? I help out with applications for course credit and there is a lot of stuff students have done they really don't have to do again. More than once I have thought we should have the student teach the course. ;-)
The next seminar is: "Second Handbook of Academic Integrity (2024) launch".
Wednesday, July 10, 2024
CIT Timber High-rise Campus Going Up
Digital Technologies education in Australian schools
Ensuring there are accessible ready-to-use teaching resources
1. Expand support for, and increase visibility of, the online Digital Technologies Hub to ensure teachers have access to best practice exemplar teaching modules for the DTC.2. Improve schools’ internal information management processes regarding digital teaching resources to ensure they reach teachers who need them in the classroom.3. Support cross-fertilisation amongst professional associations and communities of practice for the DTC.Embedding digital-readiness training in Initial Teacher Education (ITE)
4. The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) should incorporate into ITE accreditation a requirement that ITE programs demonstrate their capacity to prepare our future teachers to:
• teach with digital technologies (as expected by AITSL standards)• use digital technologies within all learning areas (including Digital Literacy development)• teach the F–10 Digital Technologies subject and/or senior secondary computer education courses.This could be supported through the Australian Technologies Teacher Educators Network (ATTEN) to provide end-user input from Digital Technologies teachers based in each state and territory.Supporting ongoing professional development and training for teachers
5. Ensure that training courses suitable for teachers are available and accessible across all essential areas of digital technologies knowledge and skills.6. Identify and promote existing recommended courses that provide training in software tools and core principles of digital technologies for teachers of all year levels.7. Invest in initiatives that support teachers to attend suitable training for digital technologies skills and in turn this will increase the number of skilled teachers at each school.Elevating awareness of the Digital Technologies Curriculum in the community
8. Empower parents with the tools and capabilities to understand and communicate at home the value of digital technologies, including the types of technology careers that can be pursued and how the skills can be applied to solve problems in a range of industries.9. Ensure that tools and capabilities that empower parents are inclusive and increase visibility of underrepresented groups in STEM fields, such as women and girls and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.10. Establish a national coordinated data collection of DTC learning outcomes, and communicate these outcomes to the community to build better understanding and awareness of learning and career outcomes.11. Recognise and reward excellence in digital technologies education to increase visibility to parents and the education community and promote best practice-teaching in Australian schools.
Thursday, July 4, 2024
The Cafe and the Education Revolution
Already I have scheduled a meeting on exemptions and credit for recognition prior learning and experience, in the cafe. Granting students credit for what they did somewhere else is something academics are reluctant to do. This is partly out of a concern for standards, but also because it is not something part of academic training. Some of this is relatively simple: a course in discrete mathematics is much the same in Sydney or Shenzhen. However, soft skills are another matter: a course where students work in a team is not the same as one where they just read books about working in a team. Is work experience at a computer company in another country equivalent to Australia?
Wednesday, July 3, 2024
Innovation in Canberra
Greetings from the foyer of ACT Government HQ where they are hosting the 109th First Wednesday of Canberra Innovation Network. The ACT Chief Minister is doing the honours before the pitches.
ps: Interesting building.
High ceilings give low exam results
Reference
Friday, June 28, 2024
Impact of Digital Technology on Children Webinar 5 July
Dr. John Worthington, Educational and Developmental Psychologist |
MLSIG Webinar: Discussions and Case studies of the Impact of Digital Technology on Children and Teenagers, a Clinicians Perspective
Title: Discussions and Case studies of the Impact of Digital Technology on Children and Teenagers, a Clinicians Perspective
Speaker: Dr. John Worthington, Educational and Developmental Psychologist
Date: 10am, 5 July 2024 Via Zoom
Abstract: The three case studies drawn from clinical cases. While occasionally, the leading concern may be to do with the child’s use of or interaction with devices, typically the technology concern is a secondary, or even a non-issue until revealed by the history provided and or the assessment itself. Often, when the issue is exposed, the impact is not only on the child but can be wide ranging, and involve parents, siblings, peers, teachers, relatives etc.
About the speaker: Dr. John Worthington provides independent clinical, school and home based assessment and consultation services to support individuals aged 3 years through to adults. http://www.jweducation.com/
ps: Dr Worthington is my brother.
Thursday, June 27, 2024
Canberra's Digital Creatives Like Lunch
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Creative Connect Panel at CBRIN: Lucy Sugerman, Elvis Gleeson, Emma Laverty, & Owen Walter |
Wednesday, June 26, 2024
What is on in Adelaide in late August?
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iAward to ANU Techlauncher |
Thursday, June 20, 2024
Conjecture or Inference in AI Decision-Making
Assistant Professor Luke Stark, from Western University (Canada) |
More interestingly Professor Stark compared attempts in past centuries to correlate facial shape with behavioral characteristics to current AI work which is similarly misapplied. He suggested there are open questions on how inference should be applied. Also Professor Stark suggested AI could learn a lot from medicine and the discussion around the applicability of evidence based treatment. On the surface it seems obvious that medical treatment should be based on evidence from trials, but if the people conducting the trails are not like the patients, then the results may not be applicable.
Professor Stark's analysis seemed a little idealistic, in that it assumes users of AI (and previous technology) were driven by a quest for the truth and equity. However, researchers repeatedly produce AI systems, which discriminate against particular groups. Rather than see this as an unfortunate side-effect of the technology, I suggest it be acknowledged as one of the main uses of AI, and measures to minimize it be put in place.
Wednesday, June 19, 2024
Government Keynote: RAAF's journey with Agile methodologies Wing Commander Mike Moroney, AI Lead for the Royal Australian Air Force
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Wing Commander Moroney, RAAF AI Lead |
Wing Commander Moroney said he never finished "The Phoenix Project" (BY GENE KIM, KEVIN BEHR, GEORGE SPAFFORD), about DevOps, as it was "too triggering", but "The DevOps Handbook" (BY GENE KIM, JEZ HUMBLE, PATRICK DEBOIS, JOHN WILLIS, NICOLE FORSGREN) is okay. Also he recommended Accelerate (BY NICOLE FORSGREN, JEZ HUMBLE, GENE KIM).
Securing Government Data Used with AI a Jobs Growth Area
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Jayden Cooke, ASD on Secure by Design |
This was a refreshing change from the proceeding GitLab sales pitches. It was still a sales pitch, especially with claims of by in from "Five Eyes" partners. The idea is a reasonably simple one: rather than build software and then think about how to make it secure, instead think about security from the start. This requires a systematic approach which ASD has been attempting to have universities teach to their students. At present there is a golden opportunity for this. A few months ago we asked computer project students participating in the award winning ANU Techlauncher Project to write a couple of sentences about what they see as their future career. Many nominated AI, and other cyber security. The intersection (or collision) of the two I suggest will be an area of demand for staff as AI security flaws come to light.
Tuesday, June 18, 2024
Project proposals needed for computer student teams
For several years I have been one of a large team teaching project management to computer students. The ANU Techlauncher Program continues to gain in popularity, and we are in need of more projects for more students due to start their studies in the next few weeks. The project can be something from a small business, startup, large corporation, government agency, or a not-for-profit. You might have a glimer of an idea, and want a prototype to see if it makes sense, or something well specified, and just needs doing. In the past I have tutored students building software to test hydroelectric generators which keep the lights on in much of Australia, while others helped develop an anti-ballistic missile radar which protects Australian warships. At the other end of the scale, a team produced an app for a health professional, to help their patients with a fear of flying.
Time to shake up the Insurance Industry
Thursday, June 13, 2024
Grammarly’s Generative AI Writing Assistant Creates Questions for Teachers
Grammarly have introduced a generative AI Writing Assistant as an option for its popular grammar checking program. I have been a fan of grammar correcting tools for decades. Without them, or a human editor, I can't get work published. I recommend them to my students, but Grammarly's AI tool needs to be treated with caution, as casual use could be a career ending.
The tool is available even with the free version of Grammarly. You need to opt in to use it. By default it is I set it to formal, direct, Australian English, by an IT professional.
Here is the text I gave Grammerly:
'Dr Ryan Young at the ANU National Security College Futures Hub, has prepared "Future Disruptions for Australian Universities" for the Universities Accord Review Panel. The Futures Hub's logo is, appropriately enough a black swan. The accord panel has been advising the Australian Government on the future of higher education...'
Here is how it made the text "sound academic":
'Dr. Ryan Young, from the ANU National Security College Futures Hub, haspreparedauthored a document titled "Future Disruptions for Australian Universities" for the Universities Accord Review Panel. The Futures Hub'slogoemblem,appropriately enougha black swan, seems fitting for their work. Theaccordpanel,has been advisingresponsible for guiding the Australian Government onthe future ofhigher education's future, ...'
Grammerly has mostly just improved my sentence structure and used more academic sounding words. But the meaning has been changed in a few places for example I wrote "I find older students are easier to teach" to "teaching older students is reported to be more straightforward", thus attributing my comment to the authors of the report. Such mis-attributions could be serious in a student assignment, or a published paper.
I have become so comfortable with grammar checkers that I accept their recommendations without checking closely. This could be a career ending move with the Generative AI option in Garmmerly. I suggest warning your students, and colleagues, to treat this function with the caution they would a standalone generative AI tool: something to be used to generate ideas, with every detail checked to be right, before being used.
ANU Techlauncher Project Wins IT Industry Award for Education
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iAward to ANU Techlauncher |
Sunday, June 9, 2024
Further Disruptions for Australian Universities
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Future Disruptions for Australian Universities Report |
Most of the disruptions discussed are hardly Black Swan unanticipated events, and most and already being addressed by university with gradual evolution, rather than sudden disruption. Geographically dispersed work-forces were catered to in the past by distance education, which has been made much easier in the last few decades using the Internet. AI has been developed over decades, and those of us in the tech sector have received briefings over the years on its progress, before Chat GPT came to public attention.
As the report suggests, the world may be moving to a period of ‘poly-crisis’, with multiple global and regional events to deal with. However, the world has only been relatively crisis free for a small wealthy, mostly western, section of the population. The rest of the world, including academics, have had to learn to cope with an uncertain world. Australia's universities, despite some challenges, will still be in a relatively privileged position, with more and more stable funding, benign security situation, and stable governments. That will continue to provide a competitive advantage against institutions located in countries with unstable repressive regimes, where their campuses are threatened by terrorists, their own or neighboring military.
The author suggests there are opportunities for universities in these challenges. One example not mentioned in the report was the COVID-19 pandemic, which allowed universities to move from a lecture based model of learning to a blended one. The report points out that universities bundle and cross subsidize cross-subsidise activities. However, this is not by accident, with governments requiring universities to be multi-purpose, multi-discipline, and forcing institutions to seek external funding.
Australia has a dual sector system, with university alongside vocational institutions. There are considerably more private companies in the vocational sector. Australia has a competitive advantage with its close regulation of both sectors. The greatest risk, I suggest, is governments suddenly deciding to deregulate post-secondary education, using a flawed model of education imported from the USA. But not all government changes are negative. The funding of study hubs, first in regional areas, and now expanded to outer metropolitan areas is a useful innovation.
Thursday, June 6, 2024
Free Online Course on Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in the Indian Ocean Region
The Australian National University is offering an online course on "Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation", for the Indian Ocean Region, commencing 29 July 2024. This is funded by the Australian Government and is free for professionals in Bangladesh, the Comoros, France, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Students are guided in the development of an develop an Adaptation Action Plan (AAP).
Will the Military Trust AI on the Battlefield?
Dr Lushenko did not find much research on trust of AI, apart from ground personnel directing crewed versus uncrewed airstrikes. It occurs to me that issues of trusting AI would be much the same as for allied forces.
Dr Lushenko conducted a survey of US military personnel and found they were most comfortable with non-lethal AI. They would trust lethal AI more if it provided protection for their own troops.
I suggested to Dr Lushenko it might be interesting to compare the views of military personnel to civilians in non-military agencies which are authorized to use lethal force.
After it occurred to me that a Turing test could be used to see if military personnel can tell if they are interacting with humans, or AI. In many cases personnel now interact using a text and data interface, with no voice. It would be possible to run a test in a simulator or on a range, where the human might be communicating with a human or a machine. This would be relatively simple to set up, as simulators often use synthetic elements, but which usually have very limited intelligence.
* The ANU Mills Room reminds me of the war room in Dr Strangelove, which is disturbingly appropriate for the topic.Wednesday, June 5, 2024
CIT New Campus at First Wednesday
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Rikkii Norris, CIT CEO |
Tuesday, June 4, 2024
Reducing consumption by making Minimalism Cool
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Sarah Boddington and Rebecca Blackburn at ANU |
Sunday, June 2, 2024
Misunderstanding What Success Is
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Dr Anish Purkayastha, USyd |
The authors found that domestic students of tutors with a PhD were more likely to receive a Distinction grade. However, a high grade does not assist a student in meeting the minimum required to get their degree, and is a waste of effort for the typical student.
This effect, where a PhD graduate tends to help a few students get higher grades, whereas tutors who have been trained to teach tend to help struggling students pass, has been found in previous studies.
Reference
Friday, May 31, 2024
Australian Regional University Study Hubs
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Map of Regional University Study Hubs, from Department of Education, 2024 |
As soon as I became an online student, I had an overwhelming urge to attend class. This was a surprise, as I was a practitioner of online learning, as well as a mature, postgraduate student. It was not so much for face to face tuition by a teacher, but to talk to other students. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anyone else studying at the same universities nearby, so I attended workshops and seminars at the local university for students, and staff, of the same discipline. In this I had an advantage of being on the staff of one of the universities, so having access the average student does not. In one case I convened my own interest group at the offices of my professional body.
Thursday, May 30, 2024
Bougainville Peace Agreement
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Kevin Pullen presenting |
I look forward to reading Kevin's thesis. The Bougainville story would make an exciting action movie, with the involvement of mercenaries with Russian helicopter gunships, a threatened coup, and many political machinations.
Australia is currently part of an arms race in the region, with nations acquiring submarines, aircraft carriers, missiles and drones. However another way to secure Peace is to help nations in our region to be stable and prosperous.
Wednesday, May 29, 2024
Researching Floods with AI
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Dr Yossi Matias, Head of Google Research |
One example is Google's flood and fire information for the public. I first came on Google's work in this area 10 years at an unconference at ANU. I had helped with an emergency management system so was bemused when someone I took to be a school student got up and talked about emergency management. It turned out they were a Google engineer with extensive experience.
Saturday, May 25, 2024
Aligning Computer Professional Skills With the Nation's Needs
Greetings from the Australian Computer Society (ACS), Canberra Branch Hub, where I am taking part in an ACS Professional Standards Board meeting. ACS sets the standards for the education of computer professionals in Australia, and in conjunction with sister societies, world wide. In the usual bureaucratic processes of being on any committee, it is easy to forget how important the work is. We need to ensure what Australian universities and vocational institutions teach is what industry needs, and aligns with international standards. We also need to ensure that working professionals can keep up with developments in the industry, either individually or through their employer. All of this has to be acceptable to Australian governments, and industry.
Being professionals, we first try to find an existing standard, but often have to enhance, or on occasion, write the standard from scratch. Not surprisingly new technology requires new skills of computer professionals, such as blockchain, and quantum computing. These are relatively easy to address. More surprising, and much harder, are soft skills, such as emotional intelligence. How do we define these, help professionals get them, and perhaps hardest, convince people they need them. Recently an assessment question I wrote for students was criticized by one of my colleagues as not being "academic", because it concerned soft skills. I look forward to being able to say "We are required to teach and test these professional skills".
The work of the board on skills standards goes all the way from high level definitions, down to how to document this, using digital badges, in electronic portfolios. This may all sound very esoteric, but it can result in someone being hired for a job much more quickly, a company getting a contract, a nation increasing productivity, and citizens being safer.
Wednesday, May 22, 2024
Black Duck With Robots?
PS: A few days ago I was in a Sydney bookstore looking for Black Duck for a friend. I didn't know a few days later I would be on a room with the authors, in an event run by Colin Steele. This is after discussing a talk on quantum computing I have been asked to give in Singapore. Before that I agreed to write procedures to assess prior experience of students and teach social media skills to academics. That is the nature of higher education.
Wednesday, May 15, 2024
Nurturing an Academic Community Online
Reference
Narayan, V., Cochrane, T., Stretton, T., Chanane, N., Alizadeh, M., Birt, J., … Vanderburg, R. (2024). A model for nurturing a networked academic community: #ASCILITEMLSIG mobile learning special interest group. International Journal for Academic Development, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2024.2349930
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Digital Concierges for Recruiting
Sunday, May 12, 2024
Australia’s International Education and Skills Strategic Framework
The Australian Department of Education has released a 41 page draft "Australia’s InternationalEducation and SkillsStrategic Framework" for consultation (10 May 2024). The report has an odd mix of conflicting objectives, based on false premises. There is nothing wrong with the Australian Government setting targets to meet national priorities. This could be to maximize student fees, meet national skills needs, or to aid regional development. However, measures to do any one of these will work against the other two.
An option not mentioned is to use regional campuses as part of the growth of non-capital Australian cities. As an example, the NSW government is considering high speed rail options from Sydney to Newcastle. Newcastle already offers an attractive location for students, with its beaches, and fast access to Sydney would make this a much better offering. One option would be a battery powered high speed rail line from Newcastle to Canberra, via Sydney and Woolongong, with trains recharging via overheard catenary while decelerating and accelerating for each station.
Thursday, May 9, 2024
Generative AI to Boost Productivity?
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Justin Hutchings, GitHub |
The paradox is that computers have not increased office productivity. We were invited to photograph the slide of claimed productivity increases. However, I can recall claims made decades ago for 4GL languages, not far from where we are, which would allow programs to write themselves. In practice they allowed amateurs to get into a mess. The current attempt is not like that, with tools for professionals. However, these tools only do the easy bits.
Some of the features demonstrated could be useful for teaching computing. In particular implementing rules about what code libraries can be used and what coding practices must be followed. The billing features might also be used for student hurdles, the idea being that to pass the course the student must put in a set amount of work (the quality of the work would determine their grade).
ps: At question time someone asked about legacy code. I guess we need Copilot COBOL. ;-)
pps: It is a long time since I have been in a corporate environment, and find sales pitches excruciating. One yesterday from a plagiarism detector company was particularly bad. But this Microsoft event today is okay.