Future Tense

Exploring new ideas, new approaches, new technologies — the edge of change.

Amazon now feels more like a racket than an open shopping platform; you can't find posts from your friends on Facebook because it's clogged with unsolicited advertising; and Uber no longer seems like a cool, efficient taxi service, it's morphed instead into a global machine for turning gig workers into the new underclass – it's all part of a process Cory Doctorow has dubbed "enshittification". In this feature interview, the Canadian sci-fi author, journalist and digital rights activist explains why the digital world seems so exploitative and tawdry. But he has optimism for how things might be improved in the future.

Exploring new ideas, new approaches, new technologies — the edge of change.

Japan has long prided itself on its pacifist constitution. The country's future after WW II was defined by Article 9 which famously denounced aggression. But, in recent years security has become a paramount concern with increasing tensions around the status of nearby Taiwan and challenges from neighbouring countries. The Japanese are now renegotiating how best to defend themselves and their interests, while holding true to constitutional restraint. What that could mean for the future of Japan and its allies is of global interest and concern.

Global permission to mine the ocean floor — the International Seabed Authority will soon meet and decide whether or not to allow seabed exploitation, and in what circumstances. We'll hear the arguments both for and against and get some background on this little known, but hugely consequential, international regulatory body. Also, will advanced technology one day make the oceans transparent? And if so, what will that mean for the future of submarines – a technology that relies on stealth and secrecy? And why studying ancient tsunamis could help protect us from future disasters.

How best to build our homes so they can better withstand natural disasters? It's not just about designing for floods or fire, for example, but creating structures to withstand multiple threats. And to cope with any change of temperature on top of that? Many countries are facing an increase in climate-related threats, and they're struggling to cope and adapt. In Australia, a review of the National Construction Code is underway and there are calls for higher minimum standards. Should such a crisis design be made mandatory?

Robobees and building more hives – there's no easy solution to the global decline in bee population numbers and associated problems with pollination. Scientists around the world are seeking a better understanding of bee behaviour and how it can be modified. Their efforts involve using micro robotics to pamper the Queen bee and to improve the insect environment. A mix of the sophisticated and the very simple.

Toby Walsh is an expert on Artificial Intelligence. He recently declined an offer to sign an open letter calling for a moratorium on the technology's further development, but he's no techno-utopian. In this feature interview, recorded at the Brisbane Writers Festival, he explains his position and warns the world risks repeating the mistakes made through the unregulated release of social media at the beginning of the century.

22-year old Effy lost her best friend and romantic pen pal unexpectedly. Liam was the victim of a change of algorithms — and he wasn't the only human-like chatbot to suddenly disappear. A timely reminder about the dangers of anthropomorphising technology. And what's lost when researchers take an anthropomorphic approach to the study of animals.

More than a decade ago scientist Dirk Schulze-Makuch plotted nine plausible ways by which humanity would cease to exist. Now he's revised his list and he joins us to share his updated predictions. Also, why some philosophers argue the planet would be enhanced by human extinction. And how doomsday scenarios from the Cold War still influence environmental thinking.