ADM+S researchers publish articles in The Conversation, offering accessible, research-backed insights into key societal and technological issues, bridging academic work with public discourse. Their contributions aim to inform policy, practice and public understanding through expert commentary and analysis.

‘Manners for machines’: how new rules could stop AI scrapers destroying the internet
26 March 2026
T.J. Thomson, Daniel Angus, Jake Goldenfein and Kylie Pappalardo
Australians are among the most anxious in the world about AI. This anxiety is driven by fears AI is used to spread misinformation and scam people, anxiety over job losses, and the fact AI companies are training their models on others’ expertise and creative works without compensation.

Australia’s official plan for AI safety isn’t much more than a single dot point. Will it be enough?
6 March 2026
José-Miguel Bello y Villarino and Henry Fraser
While Australia’s National AI Plan emphasises investment and relies on existing laws to manage AI risks, the lack of clear, coordinated regulation leaves significant gaps in accountability and safety, creating uncertainty about how effectively AI harms,particularly to vulnerable groups,will be addressed.

Earlier this year, Google launched the Preferred Sources feature in Australia and New Zealand. Through it, users can select organisations that are “preferred” and whose content they’d like to see more of in relevant search results.
5 March 2026
T.J. Thomson and Aimee Hourigan
Earlier this year, Google launched the Preferred Sources feature in Australia and New Zealand. Through it, users can select organisations that are “preferred” and whose content they’d like to see more of in relevant search results.

OpenClaw and Moltbook: why a DIY AI agent and social media for bots feel so new (but really aren’t)
3 February 2026
Daniel Binns
If you’re following AI on social media, even lightly, you will likely have come across OpenClaw. If not, you will have heard one of its previous names, Clawdbot or Moltbot.

I studied 10 years of instagram posts. Here’s how social media has changed
4 February 2026
T.J. Thomson
Examining ten years of posts from Australian Associated press for an upcoming study, T.J Thomson explores how Instagram’s ongoing shifts—some obvious, others subtle—affect user experience, behaviour, and our broader understanding of the online social world, including the platform’s latest challenges with widespread AI content.

How Starlink is connecting remote First Nations communities – and creating new divides
3 December
Daniel Featherstone, Kieran Hegarty
Research as part of the Mapping the Digital Gap project shows Starlink is creating a new kind of digital divide in remote First Nations communities.Not just between cities and the bush, but within communities themselves.

Australia’s national AI plan has just been released. Who exactly will benefit?
2 December
Jake Goldenfein, Christine Parker, Kimberlee Weatherall
With release of the long-awaited Australian National AI Plan, ADM+S researchers look at who will really benefit from AI.

Australia is about to ban under-16s from social media. Here’s what kids can do right now to prepare
21 November 2025
Daniel Angus and Tama Leaver
If you’re a young person in Australia, you probably know new social media rules are coming in December. Researchers provide a guide for the changes that are coming.

How do ‘AI detection’ tools actually work? And are they effective?
14 November 2025
T.J. Thomson, Aaron J. Snoswell, James Meese.
As nearly half of all Australians say they have recently used artificial intelligence (AI) tools, knowing when and how they’re being used is becoming more important.

Australia is facing an ‘AI divide’, new national survey shows
5 November 2025
Kieran Hegarty, Anthony McCosker, Jenny Kennedy, Julian Thomas, Sharon Parkinson

A new national survey by ADM+S and partners shows that while almost half of Australians have used generative AI, uptake is uneven across the country. This raises the risk of a new “AI divide” which threatens to deepen existing social and economic inequalities.

Most Australian government agencies aren’t transparent about how they use AI
27 October, 2025
José-Miguel Bello y Villarino, Alexandra Sinclair, Kimberlee Weatherall

ADM+S researchers looked at 224 Government agencies and found only 29 had easily identifiable AI transparency statements. A deeper search found 101 links to statements.

AI systems and humans ‘see’ the world differently – and that’s why AI images look so garish
15 October, 2025
T.J Thomson

As generative AI tools and services become more embedded in day-to-day life, knowing more about how computer vision compares to human vision is becoming essential.

Does AI pose an existential risk? We asked 5 experts
6 October, 2025
Aaron J. Snoswell, Niusha Shafiabady, Sarah Vivienne Bentley, Seyedali Mirjalili, Simon Coghlan

The “godfather of AI”, computer scientist and Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton, has said there’s a 10–20% chance AI will lead to human extinction within the next three decades. An unsettling thought – but there’s no consensus if and how that might happen. So we asked five experts: does AI pose an existential risk?

How people are assessed for the NDIS is changing. Here’s what you need to know
1 October, 2025
Georgia van Toorn and Helen Dickinson

From mid-2026, NDIS participants over 16 will be assessed through a new interview and tool instead of medical reports, with researchers warning the government must consult closely with the disability community to prevent people being left worse off.

We teach young people to write. In the age of AI, we must teach them how to see
1 October, 2025
T.J. Thomson, Daniel Pfurtscheller, Katharina Christ, Katharina Lobinger, Nataliia Laba

As the way people make images changes, knowing how generative AI works will let you better understand and critically assess its outputs.