Holding Pattern

Three recent articles illustrate that Australia is taking a very large gamble with AUKUS. In The Bulwark (29 May), Jonathan Last argued that both Russia in Ukraine and the United States in its confrontation with Iran have discovered a hard truth: relatively cheap drones can neutralise vastly more expensive military systems. The significance of drones, […]

Pope Leo XIV has released what may prove to be one of the most important documents of his papacy: an encyclical on artificial intelligence. In many ways it is the Church’s equivalent of asking the same question Pope Leo XIII asked during the Industrial Revolution: how do we ensure that technological progress serves human beings […]

What does Hannah Arendt’s famous idea of the “banality of evil” mean in the age of artificial intelligence? Arendt developed the concept after attending the trial of Adolf Eichmann, one of the organisers of the Holocaust. What struck her was not that Eichmann was a monster, but that he appeared ordinary. She argued that great […]

One of the most frequently repeated justifications for AUKUS and Australia’s massive expenditure on nuclear-powered submarines is the need to protect “Australia’s sea lanes”. But what exactly are these sea lanes, and can the proposed submarine fleet actually achieve that objective? Australia’s sea lanes are the maritime routes upon which our trade depends. They stretch […]

What does Hannah Arendt’s famous idea of the “banality of evil” mean in the age of artificial intelligence? Arendt developed the concept after attending the trial of Adolf Eichmann, one of the organisers of the Holocaust. What struck her was not that Eichmann was a monster, but that he appeared ordinary. She argued that great […]