Hello, we are late to the briefing this morning, but we’ve brought a handful of things we hope will make up for our tardiness. Monday, amirite?
1. Government to probe AI in schools
The Australian House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training has launched an inquiry into the use of generative artificial intelligence in the Australian education system. To summarise, the inquiry will probe the issues and opportunities presented by generative AI, and look at the current and future impacts on Australia’s early childhood education, schools, and higher education sectors. As with any government inquiry, submissions have been called for, with hearings to follow in the coming months before a report containing recommendations is prepared.
2. Airbnb tourist tax on the cards for Victoria
The Age is reporting that Victorian landlords who use platforms like Airbnb could be charged a new tax under measures the government is considering to help ease the rental crisis. Per the report, capping the number of nights landlords can list their properties on Airbnb, imposing a “tourist tax”, or empowering local councils to charge property owners higher commercial rates are options that are on the cards.
3. Google to pay Sonos $US32.5M
Reuters is reporting that Google must pay $US32.5 million in damages for infringing one of Sonos’ patents, after a federal jury ruled in the latter’s favour. The case is part of an intellectual property dispute between the former collaborators that includes other lawsuits in the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. Per the report, the companies previously worked together to integrate Google’s streaming music service into Sonos products.
4. ACMA scammers targeting the ACMA
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is warning of scams involving itself – that is, calls or emails that are threatening to disconnect your phone service, with the caller/emailer claiming to be from the ACMA. “Scammers are targeting people who speak Mandarin by pretending to represent a government agency. Some calls also give an English language option. The scammer will claim there has been illegal activity involving your phone number and threaten to disconnect the service.” Stay vigilant, the ACMA will never contact you.
5. Lawyer used ChatGPT and the bot shockingly got it wrong
Over on The New York Times there’s a wonderful* story about a lawyer in New York who is facing a court hearing of his own after his firm used AI tool ChatGPT for legal research. Apparently, the lawyer asked the bot to help him prep, but instead of vetting the info churned out by the piece of tech, the lawyer took it as gospel and started citing cases that don’t actually exist as precedents for his case. “Six of the submitted cases appear to be bogus judicial decisions with bogus quotes and bogus internal citations,” Judge Castel wrote in an order. *Not wonderful.
BONUS ITEM: Khaleesi would like a moment of your day.
🐲 ICYMI: The London Zoo welcomed Khaleesi, a 10-year-old female Komodo dragon named after the ‘Mother of Dragons’ from the popular TV series ‘Game of Thrones’ pic.twitter.com/rrNusAi7Fl
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 28, 2023
Enjoy the rest of your week.