Learning AI from a Children's Book

Dr Ben Swift

Yesterday I took part in Ben Swift's "LLMs Unplugged: A tech-free guide to understanding (and teaching) AI" at the Australian National University's College of Systems & Society. The workshop is aimed at school teachers and earns the attendee professional development points. But this would be useful for anyone who wants to understand how Large Learning Models (LLMs) work. I have a technical computing background, so much of this is familiar to me, but this clear fun overview was still very useful.

Ben took us through several exercises using children's story books. The advantage of this is that the source material has a limited vocabulary & repetitive patterns, making analysis easy, and fun. But the exercise could be carried out using government policy documents, or military reports.

The next workshops are 16 September & 25 November.

40% of new tech staff don't have degrees

Greetings from the National Press Club in Canberra for the launch of the Australian Computer Society annual Deloitte "Digital Pulse" employment report. The report was launched by the Deputy Prime Minister. For me the most important point in the report was that 40% of new technology workers in over the past five years didn't get there via a degree. They came other forms of qualifications, and workplace training. Thar is okay, I didn't either and when they feel the need for a degree I can help them get it at ANU.

Making universities a part time world

Associate Professor Kelly Linden, Charles Sturt University, has produced a well researched report "Is the problem us? Helping part-time students succeed in a full-time world" (5 August 2026). Unfortunately Professor Linden comes to the wrong conclusions and recommendations. The report points out that just over a third of domestic Australian university students are part time. These students have lower rates of success and retention, and are more likely to belong to an equity group. The report also points out Australian universities are set up primarily for full time students. I suggest the official figures understate the proportion of part time students, with many of those enrolled full time having work or family commitments, and so being effectively part time. It is not that these part time students need special support: the design of programs needs to be flipped to have them design for part time by default. All students can be offered the same quality online learning, with optional campus activities.

Professor Linden recommends more support for the part time students. I suggest this is missing the point. As most of the students are in effect, part time, online, programs should be designed for this mode of learning. This is not difficult or expensive to do, and ultimately simpler than designing for full time face to face students, then have to make special arrangements when it turns out most students are not. There should be facilitates on campus for students who can mange to get there regularly, but this should not be required or assumed by course designers. The facilities should be available for extended periods. 

These suggestions are informed by two experiences I had as a part time graduate student. As an on campus night student after work I was required to attend in person lectures, at night, in Canberra, in winter. The coffee shops and administrative offices were closed, the campus was cold and dark. We would go to the lecture and then immediately leave. I missed one lecture and asked the lecturer for notes. I was told to get them "from a friend", but I knew no one in the class, as there was no opportunity to do so. I decided to withdraw from the program, but even to do that I had take time off work during the day, when the office was open. 

My night school experience contrasts with being an online student in Canada. Despite being 13,000 km from campus, in another country, I was made to feel welcome. I could contact my instructors and the administrative staff any time. Most learning was asynchronous, and real time events were scheduled to suit those in different time zones. There were icebreaker activities to meet fellow students. Being an internaional online student was less lonely and more human, than being an on campus night student had been.

ANU University House New and Old

ANU Great Hall

Greetings from the Great Hall of the Australian National University, which has reopened after a multi-year restoration. As the Master noted in his welcome today, the power, communications and other services have been updated, but the visible structure in and out looks unchanged. It is an odd feeling of deja vu walking into somewhere where so many happy memories were made over decades, but looks news 

Cyber Threat Looms Over Government

Greetings from day one of Technology in Government conference in Canberra. While AI is the topic of many presentations, cybersecurity features as well. At the moment I am at a cyber threat panel. Not too late to turn up l. Government people get a free pass. I am on a panel at 4:45pm. Then there are drinks.

Innovation Takes a Long Time

One of the counter-intuitive aspects of technological developments is that they don't happen suddenly. The public doesn't hear of a new product until it is ready for sale, not the decades of development which has taken place. But the success of these products is not inevitable and even experts can't tell what will work and will succeed in the market and what will not.

Back in 2014, I volunteered to judge a Random Hacks of Kindness hackerthon hosted at the Commonwealth Bank headquarters in Sydney. One of the entries was a data analysis system for the BlueBottle USV from Ocius. This is a small solar powered vessel, for collecting oceanographic data. We awarded the prize for the competition to another entry, which shows how little we knew. Military drones are now a hot product, and Ocius Technology have gone on to successfully sell their USVs for military survalence.

At the time the Australian Minister for Defence criticized the Australian shipbuilding industry saying they did not trust the government owned shipbuilder to "build a canoe". The irony here is that the BlueBottle looks like a canoe and its military value in not being anything like the large expensive warships favoured by government. Another irony is that the Australian Government damaged the local shipbuilding industry, and weakened national defence, by chopping and changing decisions to purchase major warships. The government seemed to think you could pick a warship off the shelf like an appliance, when this involves decades of work. A third irony is that indecision may turn out to be useful, as the delayed major procurement can be replaced with smaller drones.