Author: Toby Walsh

Toby Walsh is a Laureate Fellow and Scientia Professor of AI at the University of New South Wales and Data61, and adjunct professor at QUT. He was named by the Australian newspaper as one of the "rock stars" of Australia's digital revolution. Professor Walsh is a strong advocate for limits to ensure AI is used to improve our lives. He has been a leading voice in the discussion about autonomous weapons (aka "killer robots"), speaking at the UN in New York and Geneva on the topic. He is a Fellow of the Australia Academy of Science and recipient of the Humboldt Prize and NSW Premier's Prize for Excellence in Engineering and ICT. He appears regularly on TV and radio, and has authored two books on AI for a general audience, the most recent entitled "2062: The World that AI Made".

September 19, 2021September 19, 2021 by Toby Walsh

I’d prefer an ankle tag: why home quarantine apps are a bad idea

South Australia has begun a trial of a new COVID app to monitor arrivals into the state. SA Premier Steven Marshall claimed “every South Australian should feel pretty proud that we are the national pilot for the home-based quarantine app”. But why are we developing such home-quarantine apps in the first place, when we already have a cheap technology to do this? If we want to monitor that people are at home (and that’s a big if), wouldn’t one of the ankle tags already used by our corrective services for home detention be much simpler, safer and more robust? There are many reasons to be concerned about home-quarantine apps. Read More